When Two Worlds Collide
by torzi-bom
Summary: How much do the staff at Princeton Plainsboro really know about their Dean of Medicine? Everyone gets more than they bargained for when Cuddy's two worlds collide. Cuddycentric, HouseCuddy undertones. Please read and review! COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**When Two Worlds Collide**

_**A/N:** Hello there! This is my first House fan fic, though I've been reading House fics, and writing fics for other shows for ages. I haven't written anything in a while… so what better way to procrastinate studying for exams than to start a new fan fic! Anyway, this is a **House/Cuddy** pairing, although it's a Cuddy-centric fic. Please read and let me know if you think I should continue!_

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the characters you don't recognize. Woopdy-friggin-doo!_

00

Dr House stood at the nurses' station in the clinic, glad to be rid of the last two hours of painful clinic duty. Having signed out, he quickly made a turn for the door, but only to collide with someone rushing into the clinic.

"Woah!" she cried, loosing control of one of her many bags, and having it fly halfway across the room. Both parties just managed to keep their balance, and on doing so, the girl turned to House with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry," she cringed. She pushed back the straight light brown lock of hair that had fallen in her face during the chaos and gave an awkward smile.

"Lisa Cuddy's office?" she asked. House was still too confused and overwhelmed from the collision to come up with a clever response, so instead just pointed vaguely in the direction of the office. The nurses watched from their station and smirked over House's sudden loss of speech. The anonymous girl, who could be no more than 20 years old, picked up her far-flung bag and slung it over her shoulder, joining the other five or six bags she was holding. She flashed a familiar grin before disappearing through Cuddy's glass doors.

House simply stared after her and blinked his eyes repeatedly. "What the hell?"

The girl pushed her way through the first set of doors into Cuddy's office. Her assistant quickly jumped up and protested.

"You can't go in there, Dr Cuddy's on an important phone call!"

His protests went unnoticed however as the girl headed straight into the office. Cuddy looked up from her desk and her eyes widened. The girl dropped her bags down dramatically.

"I cannot _believe_ you hung up on me!" she said theatrically.

Cuddy sighed and spoke into the phone, "I'm going to have to call you back."

"Since when have we started hanging up on each other?" the girl ranted. "I've never hung up on you before, and I wasn't aware that this was going to become a 'hanging up' family."

"Emily, I didn't hang up on you," Cuddy tried to reason.

"Umm… as I recall, yes, you did. I got home and I didn't have a key, and I went to get the spare from Mrs McClutsky, but she refused to give it to me on the grounds that you told her never to give it out to anyone but you!" Emily fumed. Cuddy rubbed her forehead despairingly.

"So, seeing as you wouldn't take any of my calls, I had nowhere else to go but here," she continued. Cuddy let out a deep sigh.

"What's going on?" she asked. Emily's explosive front fell, and she looked around awkwardly and she mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Cuddy said, standing up and leaning forward across her desk. Emily gave a defeated sigh.

"I got evicted," she cringed.

"You _what_!"

"I got evicted, okay? I ran out of money…"

"You could've asked me for money," Cuddy offered.

"Yeah… well… I didn't think of that," Emily said sheepishly. Cuddy sighed and walked around her desk towards the girl, but stopped short.

"What on earth are you wearing?" she asked, noticing Emily's tank top, tiny shorts and dark brown cowboy boots.

"California, mom," Emily replied, as if that were more than enough of an answer.

"Oh, right…" Cuddy said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"Anyway, I need to move back home for a while. I wasn't getting as many jobs in California as I hoped I would."

"Have you thought of maybe trying a different 'career' than actor slash model?" Cuddy asked, with a slightly raised eyebrow. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Do you have to put the slash in there? I did a modeling job once, mom, _once_. And why do you always have to be so condescending about my career? Just because I'm not a doctor doesn't mean I'm not gonna have a fulfilling life," Emily argued.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Cuddy said, biting her lip to suppress a chuckle.

"So, yes. I'm here because I need the house keys."

Cuddy smiled. "Come here," she said, holding her arms out to her daughter, who willingly embraced her.

"I'm glad you're home, I missed you too much," Cuddy said, gently stroking her daughter's long hair.

"I missed you too, mom," she replied. Both women gave satisfied smiles as they pulled out of the embrace, and Cuddy took the opportunity to look her daughter up and down.

"You look good," she said, "been working on the tan?"

"Of course," Emily replied, now taking her turn to check out her mother. "Would it be a compliment if I said you didn't look any older?"

"I guess."

"Well good. Though I can't help but notice you're missing an important button on your blouse," Emily pointed out. Cuddy looked at her blouse, confused.

"No I'm not…" then it clicked, and her daughter's quip about her low cut top registered. Cuddy simply rolled her eyes in reply.

"So, I'm probably not gonna be out of here for another hour or so… why don't you go grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria or something, and you can come home with me. Oh, you didn't bring your car did you?" she asked.

Emily shook her head, "Taxi. I, ah… parked my car illegally whilst I was battling it out with Mrs McClutsky, and it got towed."

Cuddy rolled her eyes, "it could only happen to you."

"I know. See ya in an hour," Emily said, heading out the door.

"No less!" Cuddy called after her, but her plea seemed to go unnoticed.

Emily had not been gone two seconds when House came hobbling in through the doors, almost tripping over the bags that were still lying on the floor where they had been dropped.

"Well, well, well," he sing-songed, "it seems Dr Cuddy is dipping into the younger age demographic… the female one too! Oh, you cradle snatcher, you. I only wished I'd come in a few minutes earlier – could've caught some cinemaxx for free!"

"House!" Cuddy protested, her eyes wide and her temper flaring, "That was my daughter!"

"Woah!" House replied, blinking his eyes several times. "You have a daughter?"

Cuddy sighed. "Actually, I have two."

00

_**A/N:** So there you go! Sorry it was so short… I just really wanted to end the chapter there. Hehe! Please review and let me know what you think… this is all I've written so far, so if you've got a hankering for more, I just might find the time…_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter2**_

_**A/N: **Wow. That was a LOT of reviews for just one chapter… thanks guys! Woooo0p! you've got me on a high! Anyway, her is the awaited chapter two… turns out I wrote most of it straight after I posted the first chapter – just too many ideas floating around up there. Before we continue, a quick shout to my reviewers:_

_**GallopGirl:** thanks for your review and compliments. Much appreciated!_

_**Jojo:** oops… sorry… I didn't realize I was breaking any laws – lol! The story behind it (or the 'backstory' as I like to call it… hehehe!) is coming in the next couple of chapters. It'll probably be explained bit by bit to avoid a big chunk of 'remember when?'_

_**Remote Control Princess:** good to know your enjoying it! More is on the way…_

_**Morgan72uk:** well, my friend, the intrigue has only just begun…_

_**ladyhound:** good to know, thanks for the review!_

_**Prinnie:** oh, I'm sure if there was a Miss Procrastination contest, I would win first prize. But I don't know if that is a good thing… lol! I've been reading so many House fics, and not all of them have been going the way I wanted them to… so I thought, why not write my own? And there are definitely not enough House/Cuddy fics out there! (Although do you notice, the Huddy Clinic C2 community has the most amount of subscribers? Heheh I did…)_

_**StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy:** You're right! There are three I think (including mine). And personally, I'm loving it! The first one I read was the one where Cuddy's daughter, Jordan, gets injured during a lacrosse game (hehehe I've read it many times over). I really loved that one, and originally the daughter's name was Jenna, and then the author changed it to Jordan and I'm like 'NOOOOO!' Because I wanted to name one of Cuddy's daughters Jordanna! But oh well, I went for Anna instead. But yeah, originally I came up with some ideas for that fic, and was gonna send them to the author, but then the daughter's character sort of changed from what I imagined it – which was good. So I decided to make a story of my own out of it, and I changed her personality and stuff like that… there were sort of two distinct personalities that I thought the daughter could possibly be, and I couldn't decide, so I made two! lol! But anyway, I haven't actually used any of the ideas I came up for that other story in this… they don't really fit the storyline I have going anyway – hehehe! So yeah, you're right, they're all very different._

_**mauigirl:** glad you like it, thanks for the review._

_**Hero:** wicked, hm? I like the sound of that… you're right on the exams are stupid though! Especially since they've changed the format of the maths exams for me this year… and I have one exam with NO notes and NO calculator. It was HELL… I'm pretty sure I failed that one. But at least I have the second exam (which has both notes and calc) to make up for it… anyway, that's information over-share, and if you don't like in Australia you probably have no idea what I'm taking about anyway. lol!_

_Well, now that's over and done with, on with the story! Oh, quick warning… there's a bit of language in this chapter… but it's rated T, so I think it'll be fine…_

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Anna Cuddy sat in her dorm room, staring at the textbook in front of her, but finding it hard to study with all the background noise emanating from the next room. She pushed her dark framed glasses up as they threatened to slide off her nose. She let out an exasperated sigh, and tried once again to focus. But, with no avail. She let out a frustrated huff, and stood up quickly, pushing out her chair violently. She stormed to the door, and stopped at it, putting her hand on the doorknob._ One… two… three…_ she counted to herself as she took three deep calming breaths. She opened the door coolly and stuck her head out.

"Hey, um, Marianne," she said to her roommate, who was lounging comfortably on the sofa and watching TV, "would you mind turning that down? Cos I'm trying to study."

"Oh my god!" Marianne replied angrily, "would you get over it! Stop asking! If I turn it down any more I'm gonna have to stick my fucking ear up against the speaker!"

"Sorry, it's just, finals start tomorrow…" Anna said, clenching and unclenching her fist behind the door, trying to stay calm.

"For fuck's sake, I know that, I'm not stupid Anna! There are like a billion libraries and this school, why don't you go study there! I'm not turning down the TV anymore."

Anna sighed and quickly shut the door before her anger got the better of her. She rushed over to the dresser and opened the top drawer with fumbling hands. She located her puffer in the drawer and quickly pulled it out, taking one long puff to help calm herself.

00

"How the hell did _this_ happen?" House said, in disbelief, as Cuddy tried to move Emily's heavy bags over to the side of the office, where they wouldn't get in the way.

"I think you're up on the procedure," Cuddy replied with a raised eyebrow. House blew a raspberry.

"You know what I mean Dr Cuddy. And eesh, she looks 25! You must've been 30 when you had her!" House said with mock-shock. Cuddy turned and glared at him.

"She's 18, almost 19," Cuddy informed him.

"So you must've been -"

"I was 19, House, if you insist on irritating me with this," Cuddy said exasperatedly.

"Well isn't this a treat! Cuddy's secret love child emerges to uncover a sordid past…" House said teasingly. "And what about the other one? A drug addicted rebellious teenager, hell-bent on disgracing her mother publicly?"

"_Anna_," Cuddy emphasized, "is the same age. They're twins."

"Awww, and do they hate their mommy? Constantly snapping bitchy remarks, and breaking your heart?" House said, sticking out his bottom lip and pretending to cry.

"No," Cuddy replied defensively, now back safely behind her desk, and leaning forward to glare at House. "Why are you even here?"

"Oh," House said mock-awkwardly, "this is embarrassing. This is Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, isn't it? Oh no, I haven't walked into Princeton Public again have I?"

"Why don't you go and get some work done House," Cuddy said with aggravation, sitting down in her chair.

"Hmmm, nah, I'm not in the mood," he replied nonchalantly.

"Well, you still owe me five more clinic hours this week, so why don't you go get a start on that," she ordered, flipping through some files, trying to create the illusion that she was too busy to deal with him.

"Actually, I think Wilson wanted my help on something…" House lied as he slipped out of the office, in the hope of avoiding more clinic duty.

00

"See, what did I tell you," Foreman said, as he and Chase hopped in the cafeteria line, "if you wait for a late lunch, then there's virtually no line."

"Yeah, and virtually no food left," Chase replied as he eyed the various empty trays along the line.

"There's plenty of good food. This cafeteria is open 24 hours, they're not gonna stop serving," Foreman said, loading up his tray.

"Yeah, I spose," Chase replied fleetingly, letting his eyes gaze around the large room. He was about to leave his wandering to focus on the food when something caught his eye. Well, more accurately, someone. Leaving the line and heading towards a table was a beautiful girl, who looked only a few years younger than Chase, with long shiny brown hair, and a confidant stride. Chase's breath caught in his throat as he let out a strangled 'woah'. This girl was truly breathtaking. Hearing Chase's strangled sounds, Foreman turned to see what he was gaping at.

"What?" he followed Chase's gaze, and his eyes landed on the gorgeous girl sitting down. "Well hello there," he said with a smirk.

"Talk about your ultimate eye candy," Chase gawked.

"Mmhmm," Foreman agreed.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Chase said confidently.

"Are you completely crazy?"

"What?"

"There are about a thousand reasons why you shouldn't do that," Foreman said.

"Oh yeah, name one."

"You have no idea who she is."

"And?"

"Usually, when people first meet you, they think you're gay."

"What! No they don't!" Chase protested.

"It's the hair, Chase," Foreman replied.

"Oh please, you're turning into House. There is nothing wrong with my hair. Just watch me Foreman," Chase said, running a hand through his blonde waves, "like a pro."

Chase strode confidently in the direction of the desired girl. When he reached her table, he slid down into the chair opposite her.

"Caesar?" he asked confidently. The girl looked up, confusion on her face.

"Huh?"

"Your salad. Is it caesar?"

"Umm… yeah," she replied, finding it a little strange that this guy would just come over to her and start talking about salad. His sexy accent did not go astray, however.

"I'm Rob Chase, by the way," Chase said with a smile.

"Salad expert extraordinaire?" she asked with a smirk, looking up into his eyes, her long mascara coated lashes opening up her blue-green eyes.

"Some like to think so," he replied. Chase was completely mesmerized by her beauty. He wondered to himself, as his eyes fell upon her soft pink lips, if it was actually possible for someone to be this magnificent. If he was just dreaming her up. He couldn't help but smile back as her lips curled into a cheeky smile.

"Aren't you going to ask my name?" she said playfully.

"Hmmm… I don't think so. I wouldn't want to spoil the mystery," he replied coyly. She let out a soft chuckle.

"Well, I'll give it to you for nothing. The name's Emily Cuddy," she said, tilting her head slightly so that her soft side fringe danced across her forehead. She reached a hand up to brush it out of her eyes. Chase's eyes widened as he heard her surname.

"Cuddy? Your last name is Cuddy?" he asked, gulping. Emily then noticed Chase's white lab coat.

"Oops," she playfully cringed, "looks like Dr Chase just realized he's been chatting up the boss's daughter."

"I… you're… she… the… you're Cuddy's… daughter?" he stuttered, flabbergasted by the situation.

"Afraid so," Emily replied with a smile, standing up and patting Chase on the shoulder. Having been watching and noticing Chase choking embarrassingly on his own saliva, Foreman quickly headed over to their table. Emily saw him coming and smiled.

"Dr Foreman," she said, quickly reading his name off his badge and shaking his hand. "Emily Cuddy."

"What? Cuddy?" Foreman said, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Looks like your friend here's gonna need the Heimlich maneuver," Emily commented, as Chase remained sitting and stuttering. She flashed them a smile before sauntering off sexily, making sure to add a little swing to her hips, just for the boys.

"What the hell did I just walk into?" Foreman asked.

Chase finally managed to sort himself out, and stared after Emily in disbelief. "That, my friend, was Dr Cuddy's daughter."

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_**A/N: **So there you go, chapter two! Be sure to review on your way out, bathrooms are to the left and we have plenty of bargains in our gift shop today. Thankyou for stopping by._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

_**A/N: **Another abundance of reviews! I am loving you guys sick right about now… thanks for all the love, etc… and keep it coming too. As usual a quick shout out:_

_**GallopGirl:** yay! Thanks for adding me to your favourites list! Makes me feel special :p_

_**prinnie:** you know, I hadn't thought about Emily/Chase… but now you've given me ideas… hehehe! All shall be revealed in due time my dear, in due time._

_**Jojo:** ahhh… I think you're thinking identical twins. They're not actually identical, their fraternal… but that shall all be explained later when Anna gets to PPTH… hehehe indeed she will!_

_**Hero:** Anna's creeping in slowly, and don't worry, she'll be at PPTH in a chapter or two… personally, I'm excited!_

_**Remote Control Princess:** Ohhh, you have no idea how much fun I had writing that Chase bit! I just felt so cheeky, it was great. Thanks for the review._

_**StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy:** hey there, don't worry, more house/cuddy interaction coming soon (mmm I don't really like word huddy either)… I'm just establishing the twins atm, but soon, soon… we will have our interaction! I've got it all planned out…_

_**Bookwormkiwi:** Well, glad you're getting into it now. I'll try and keep the chapters interesting for you :p_

_**The Orange Elf of Oblivion:** hehehe I love Chase is gay jokes! I don't think he is (although I know there are a lot of chase-slash fics out there)… I just like to toy with him :p I always love the token aussie in stories (gives me a chance to shatter that 'kangaroo-in-the-backyard' image), so you shall be seeing more of him, quite possibly embarrassing himself too, in the future…_

_Anyway, that's enough drabble from me. Though I sense some more drabble in future chapters… don't ask me why. Anyway, I know we're moving kinda slowly, but like I mentioned to a reviewer, I just gotta establish the new characters – and have some fun with it :p the big plot twists (well, more of them) shall be coming your way soon. But, for now, enjoy this chapter…_

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Emily sashayed towards her mother's office confidently, a wicked smile on her face. She was having too much fun for it to be legal. As she approached the nurses' station in the clinic, she smiled flirtatiously at a group of young male doctors and waved, saying a quick "hello boys," before disappearing through Cuddy's office doors, leaving them all gaping. She stopped in the foyer of the office, noticing her mother's absence at her desk. She crinkled her nose slightly, then grinned as an idea struck her. She turned quickly to face Cuddy's assistant, and flashed him a flirtatious smile.

"Hey," she said, sauntering towards his desk and leaning on it suggestively.

"Ah, hi," he replied, a little overwhelmed, and completely chuffed by her advances.

"I'm Emily," she replied, tossing her hair flirtatiously.

"I'm James, Dr Cuddy's assistant."

"I know," she grinned. "Tell me James, have you ever heard of the Bangles?"

00

Cuddy walked briskly down the corridor towards her office. She had just been to find House, but on arriving at his office she had been informed by Dr Cameron that he had gone home. She was irritated by the fact that she wouldn't be able to pester him about clinic duty like she had wanted. There were always many things to get angry at House about, but clinic duty was Cuddy's all-time favourite. Nothing riled him up more than clinic duty, and quite frankly, she thrived off his annoyance.

As she approached the nurses' station, she noticed them all giggling quietly and sneaking glances at her office. As she reached the office herself, she saw what they were giggling at, and what she saw did _not_ make her happy. She pulled open the doors to find her assistant James, and Emily dancing crazily in her office. Emily was on the couch, jumping up and down, and James was dancing across the room playing air guitar. Cuddy's mouth dropped open in disbelief. She could hear the muffled sound of music, but as she opened the second set of doors, the full volume of the Bangles' 'Walking Down Your Street' hit her.

"What the hell is going on!" she said loudly trying to be heard over the music. James stopped immediately, and Emily slowed her jumping.

"We're just having a good time, mom," Emily smiled.

James' eyes widened, he looked at Emily and squeaked, "Mom?"

"You better get back to your desk before I fire you James," Cuddy said sternly, and James almost ran out the door.

As he passed Cuddy he tried to explain, "I didn't know she was your daughter, I -"

"Save it, or I am firing you right now," Cuddy said, not facing him, her eyes still locked on Emily. James quickly retreated out the door. Cuddy crossed her arms and stared out her daughter, who was still standing confidently on the couch.

"Are you going to get off my couch?" she asked.

"Depends. Will you yell at me?" Emily replied.

"Can you just go and turn the music off please?" Cuddy said with an aggravated sigh.

"Fine…" Emily replied, jumping off the couch and heading over to the desk, turning off her iPod, which was sitting snugly in the dock for its speakers. She turned around to face her mother and crossed her arms.

"Okay, I'm going to give you a chance to explain before I completely bite your head off," Cuddy said coolly, with a bit of bite.

"There's not really much to explain. James said he'd never heard the Bangles, and we came in here to listen to some of their music," she replied just as coolly as her mother had.

"Alright, if you're gonna play innocent, then I'll just have to go straight into it. What on earth did you think you were doing? This is my _office_! In a _hospital_! I could have come back with benefactors, or important clients! Do you have _any idea_ how hard it would be to explain such an immature act as this! You're 19 for god's sake, show some self control!" Cuddy lectured.

"Mom, don't freak out! I was just trying to show him a good time! I'm sorry, he just seemed so uptight, he needed to loosen up. I promise it won't happen again," Emily tried to explain. Cuddy let out a deep sigh, and tried to calm herself.

"You do understand that I am _not_ happy about this, don't you?" Cuddy said sternly.

"How could I have missed it?" Emily said sarcastically. Cuddy just shook her head in disbelief and then let out a little chuckle.

"What?" Emily said, a bit confused by this sudden change in her mother's reaction.

"I can't believe he was playing air guitar," Cuddy smirked. Emily's face broke out in a broad smile and she now considered it safe to move a bit closer.

"I know, he was really jamming out there," she grinned.

"Do you think if I asked I could get him to do it in front of the whole staff?" Cuddy laughed.

"Right now I think he'd do just about anything to not get fired," Emily chuckled, as her and Cuddy both looked through the glass to see James sitting nervously at his desk, pretending to work.

"Okay, well," Cuddy said, heading towards her desk to gather her things, "lets head on home and… never speak of this again."

Emily grinned, "sounds good."

00

Anna opened her dorm room door, and the thick stench of cigarette smoke hit her like a ton of bricks. As she closed the door behind her, she could see Marianne and her boyfriend on the couch each dragging on a cigarette, a bottle of beer in hand, and a lot more empty bottles on the table.

"Oh hey, Anna!" Marianne giggled. "Did you get lots of study done?"

"Enough," Anna replied begrudgingly, making a beeline for her bedroom.

"Oh no, don't go!" Marianne said with a bit of a slur, as she noticed Anna was going to her room.

"It's been a long day, I'm just… going to bed," Anna replied.

"But it's only 8 o'clock!" Marianne protested, leaning over her boyfriend drunkenly.

"Woah, babe, it's like… 11 o'clock," her boyfriend said in a low drawn out voice.

"Fuck!" Marianne squeaked, before irrupting into a fit of giggles. Anna quickly grasped at her doorknob, desperate to get away from her nightmare of a roommate, her shaky hands having trouble gripping. She finally managed to get it open and quickly retreated, closing the door behind her. She dropped her book bag and rushed across the room to her dresser, pulling open the top drawer and grabbing her asthma puffer, taking one long puff. She let out a deep breath as her airways freed up. She paced across her room nervously, fighting an inner battle with herself. One side of her finally took over, and she reached under her bed, grabbing out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. She cursed herself inwardly as she pulled one out and stuck it between her lips, flicking the lighter on and touching its flame to the cylinder's tip. She took a drag as the paper began to burn and plonked herself on her bed. She lay down, blowing puffs of smoke into the air, as her air purifier blasted away next to her on the nightstand.

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_**A/N:** Well, there you go, another chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review, it'll only take you 30 seconds, I promise!_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

_**A/N: **Yay! More happy reviews! You know I love it when you do, I'm guessing that you love doing it too :p it puts a little bit of sunshine into my day. Anyway, as per usual, on to my few words:_

_**GallopGirl:** thanks for the review! Oh, Anna is an interesting one indeed… just you wait…_

_**Prinnie:** hello there my kindred spirit, enjoy the chapter (well… the parts you haven't read already :p)! Anna's coming home soon, don't you worry now._

_**Remote Control Princess:** You know what, I don't think this side of Cuddy is completely different to that of the show. I get what you're saying, she is definitely more carefree and a bit eccentric in this. But, I was watching the latest episode (2x06), and there is this eccentric quality to her, especially in the beginning of the episode, with her little "plot twist", and faux-dramatic reactions to House. I took that quality and amplified it a bit in this, in the context of Cuddy dealing with her daughter, and I also put that quality in Emily – only multiplied it by about 100! And yes you're right, Anna is very intriguing indeed…_

_**Jojo:** lol, sorry, but I didn't want to be too stereotypical by making them identical… and it works better for this fic with them looking different. All shall be explained later, trust me!_

_**BookwormKiwi:** Anna's personality is very interesting, if not a little strange! And let me tell you, Emily's story gets even more exciting…_

_**StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy:** There are many twists and turns coming up, you can count on that! Thanks for the review._

_**Jiminy Cricket:** Well hello there, I wonder who this could be? A mystery reviewer perhaps:p hehehe ur such a cutie!_

_**FriendsHolic:** wooo0p go you! Reviewing every chapter! You rock! lol… anyway… I wouldn't start calling Anna the goodie girl quite yet… there is a lot of her still to be revealed. And on the daddy front, you might have to wait a while… that one isn't quite relevant yet! lol you've got ahead of me already!_

_And I'm spent. Here comes chapter four, where just a little more of Anna is revealed… don't forget to review at the end!_

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Earlier that evening…

Cuddy opened her front door and stepped inside, Emily trailing behind with her abundance of bags. As she walked through the entrance way she took a good look around, re-familiarizing herself with every nook and cranny of the house she'd lived in for a good eight years.

"Well, I'd love to say what a great job you've done with the place, but it's exactly the same as it was when I was last here. Oh no wait, you moved the coffee table!" Emily said, pointing to the living room. Cuddy just kept walking and took no notice of her daughter's comment. Emily dropped some of her bags near the door, and kept walking. Cuddy suddenly stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing?" she asked accusingly, hands making their way to her hips.

"I'm going to my room…" Emily said cautiously, not sure what the problem was, "unless you've managed to change it into a sewing room in my absence."

"What about your bags?"

"What _about_ my bags?" Emily replied, confused, turning and taking a quick glance at the bags sitting by the door.

"Surely you haven't forgotten the rules of this house already?" Cuddy said, her eyebrow raising slightly.

"Ohhh," Emily said, realizing her error, "I was gonna come back to get them."

"Well, you can get them now," Cuddy replied, gesturing towards the bags. Emily tsked quietly and went back for her heavy bags, slinging them over her shoulder dramatically. They continued walking down the hallway.

"You've _so_ turned it into a sewing room," Emily scoffed, as she approached her bedroom door. She opened the door and straight away dumped her bags on the floor, looking up to find her bed still in place, as well as all her posters and photos on the walls.

"I don't even sew," Cuddy called from her own bedroom, which was just next door. Emily cast her eyes over her old room with a smile and sighed contentedly. She then gasped as she noticed something important was missing.

"Oh my God! Where's my computer!" she called hysterically.

"What?" Cuddy said, immerging from her room into Emily's.

"My computer! What's happened to it?" Emily squeaked.

"Oh, that? I got rid of that ages ago," Cuddy said flippantly.

"But… I… you… wha…" Emily stammered.

"You told me you bought a laptop," Cuddy said simply.

"Yes, I did, but I don't have it anymore!" Emily said with a bit of a moan.

"What did you do to it?" Cuddy asked accusingly, crossing her arms.

"_I_ didn't do anything, it was stolen!" Emily cried, dramatically flopping down on the bed.

"More like you accidentally left it at a bus stop or a park bench," Cuddy said, leaning against the doorframe, arms still crossed tightly.

"No, Dan stole it," Emily said bitterly.

"Who?"

"Dan, my boyfriend in California," Emily replied nonchalantly.

"You had a boyfriend in California?" Cuddy asked, disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I told you about him. Anyway, when we lived together and -"

"Wait, you _lived_ with this guy!"

"I was running out of money, remember? Well, when I broke up with him he stole my laptop. And my TV, VCR and DVD player. I'm just glad he didn't take my iPod, and I hadn't bought TiVo yet, like I planned," Emily said.

"Huh. No wonder you ran out of money," Cuddy scoffed.

"Mom," Emily said in a disapproving tone. Cuddy rolled her eyes, and then noticed the bags sitting right next to the bedroom door.

"So instead of dumping the bags outside the front door, you chose the bedroom door?" Cuddy said, eyebrow raised.

"Well… it's in my room, so technically I am within the 'house rules'," Emily replied cheekily.

"You always manage to find a loop hole," Cuddy said, shaking her head.

"Okay," Cuddy added, trying to reason, "I'll make you a deal. I'll help you unpack, as long as we do it now."

Emily sighed dramatically, "fine." She got off the bed and grabbed a bag, flinging it onto the bed just as dramatically. Cuddy too, took a bag, and placed it on the bed, opening it up. They each put things away silently for a minute, both mother and daughter comfortable, and knowing where things belonged. Emily was just putting a pair of jeans in the wardrobe when her mother cleared her throat loudly. She turned around to see Cuddy, one hand on her hip, the other holding up a black lacey g-string.

"And what is this?" Cuddy asked, a small smirk on her face. Emily quickly snatched the panties away.

"Just underwear," Emily replied self-consciously, quickly shoving it into the drawer.

"I think I should stop here," Cuddy said, holding her hands up, a grin growing on her face, "I don't want to see any more."

Emily scowled and snatched the bag from Cuddy.

"You are horrible," she replied, a small blush growing on her cheeks. Cuddy just laughed in reply.

"You'd never be so mean about Anna's underwear," Emily said, unpacking the bag discreetly.

"Anna wouldn't have that kind of underwear," Cuddy replied matter-of-factly.

"As if you'd even know, you never talk to her," Emily said, finishing with the sensitive bag, and getting another.

"I talk to her," Cuddy said, obviously lying.

"_I _talk to her. I know you don't," Emily replied, looking up from her unpacking to make eye contact.

"Ok, so I haven't talked to her in 3 months," Cuddy said.

"Mom…" Emily said warningly.

"Fine, since Christmas. But she hasn't made any effort to call me either," Cuddy tried to justify.

"You need to rise above it," Emily said dramatically, "you need to make the first move."

"Just… keep unpacking," Cuddy replied dismissively, obviously becoming uncomfortable with where the conversation was heading. Emily sighed quietly and went back to the task at hand, hoping to breach on the topic of Anna a little later.

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Cuddy lay awake in bed that night, hours after she and Emily had said their goodnights. Emily was actually tired for once and had gone to bed early, and Cuddy decided to follow her example. She rolled over again, for the third time in the last few minutes, and let out an exasperated sigh. There was no way she was going to get to sleep with this one particular thing on her mind. She glanced at the clock, _11:07pm_, and decided it wasn't too late to call. After all, college kids always stayed up obscenely late. She sat up, turned on the beside lamp and picked up the phone. She took a deep calming breath before dialing the number she had somehow memorized, although she never called it. It rang once… twice… three times, and continued ringing until it cut through to voicemail.

"Hi, you know who you're calling, leave a message."

Cuddy quickly hung up, afraid of leaving a message and saying something that could be interpreted badly. She tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed, putting the phone back down on the nightstand. She turned off the lamp and lay down again, shutting her eyes. She might not have got to talk to her, but all the same, it was nice hearing Anna's voice again.

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Anna lay on her bed, continuing to blow puffs of smoke above her face therapeutically. She attempted a few smoke rings, but she still hadn't mastered that art yet. She closed her eyes and was just beginning to completely relax when her cell phone went off, causing her to jump suddenly. She sat up irritably and picked up her purse, fishing through it for her phone. She pulled it out and was about to answer when she saw the word 'home' flash repeatedly on the screen. There was only one person who that could be. She stared at the phone for a moment, debating what she should do, before huffing and throwing the phone carelessly back into her purse, and dumping it onto the ground beneath her feet. She lay back down, took off her glasses, placing them on the nightstand, and let out a deep sigh. She was not going to deal with the genetic betrayal that was Lisa Cuddy, tonight.

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_**A/N:** Coming up next: the contents of Cuddy's computer reveals a few little secrets… please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

_**A/N: **hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews, as usual, it is very much appreciated. I am a little saddened though, because I only have one review for my House one-shot! Admittantly, it is from Cameron's POV (so pretty much loses it's appeal to you guys), but it is most definitely NOT House/Cam (eesh as if I'm gonna jump ships…) and is basically about how House doesn't want her. Hehehe! So yes, please give it a chance and review!_

_Anyway, onto the story at hand… I am GUTTED because of this new 'no replying to reviews in stories' policy! (we all know how much I love to do that). So, I'm just gonna have to give a general who-ha thanks to you all! You know I love hearing what you guys have to say, your feedback, ideas, stuff like that, so please do keep them coming._

_Now, here comes the icky part. I've got a bit of writer's block at the moment. I know where I want this story to go, and how it's going to pan out, but I'm having some difficulty getting the words down. Plus, there are a billion other things going on in my life that are stopping me from being able to concentrate on this. SO, I am going to go on hiatus for a while. Not too long, of course, because then you would all forget about this fic and become disinterested (lol!). And I'm not going to stop writing, quite the opposite in fact, I'm gonna try and work on my characters a bit more, really stretch them out and go in depth into who they are and what they're about. I don't want to do this fic half-assed, so I really need to do this sort of thing to get it working. And plus, I can feel Emily getting a bit Mary Sue-ish, and I most definitely do NOT want that to happen! So I'll be trying to get her, and my other characters more three dimensional. But yes, I'm hoping to be back before the new year._

_In regards to this chapter, sorry it's so short… but it's just a fun little mother/daughter interlude before all the really serious stuff starts happening. Please let me know what you think!_

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Emily sat at her mother's computer the following morning, checking emails, and generally just tinkering about while Cuddy made breakfast.

"I do not want to come home and find out you've been on a shopping spree," Cuddy said sternly, "that money is to get your car back, nothing else."

"I promise I won't go shopping," Emily replied from the room adjacent, "at least not with your money." Cuddy stuck her head through the doorway and gave Emily a disapproving look.

"Ugh, fine, you're right, I don't have any money anyway," Emily sulked. Cuddy gave a satisfied nod and went back to making her breakfast.

"And will you get changed out of your pyjamas soon please, you've been up for at least an hour," Cuddy said.

"Mom, I'm almost 19, I think I can dictate for myself when I do or do not get dressed," Emily replied dismissively, opening iTunes and contemplating downloading the contents of her iPod onto it. She chuckled to herself as she scrolled through the limited choice of music her mother had on there; Abba, Alan Parsons Project, The Beatles, Blondie, Chaka Khan. She looked down the list of playlists on the side, to find her mother hadn't created any of her own, - simply stuck with the default ones - until there was a folder that caught her eye, titled 'Audiobooks'. She clicked on the tab to open it, and her eyes widened at what she saw. There were about seven different playlists, all with ridiculous self-improving titles. She clicked on a playlist entitled '_Winning_', and sure enough, there was a long list of different chapters. She had to cover her mouth to stop from crying out with laughter. She browsed some of the other titles, such as '_The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership_', '_Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done_', '_The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness To Greatness_', and a range of other similar titled playlists. It was only when she caught a glimpse of '_I'm Not Mad, I Just Hate You: A New Understanding of Mother-Daughter Conflict_', that she couldn't contain her amusement, and burst out laughing. Cuddy, having heard the stifled chuckles from her spot in the kitchen, and then the sudden roar, went in to investigate.

"What is so funny?" she asked, standing in the doorway, hands on hips. Emily immediately minimized the iTunes window and tried to cool her flushed face, which had turned bright red from the laughing.

"Umm… nothing," she tried to cover innocently.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Cuddy replied suspiciously.

"Oh, well, I was just on msn, and one of my friends said something really funny," Emily lied.

"MSN Messenger?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah."

"But I haven't got that."

"Ah, I downloaded it for you," Emily said quickly, trying to cover her tracks.

"Oh, ok," Cuddy replied, seeming to buy this answer. Emily nodded awkwardly, and Cuddy raised her eyebrows, turning back to the kitchen. Emily let out a deep sigh and decided to keep that window minimized for the time being. She opened internet explorer, and in an attempt to dismiss her impending boredom, opted to Google herself. She went to the favourites menu to save herself typing the URL in, and was once again surprised and amused by what she found. She clicked on the bookmark, and up came a blue webpage that had obviously remembered the user and logged in automatically. She was logged in as Lisa Cuddy at DocMixer(dot)com.

"Oh... my… god," Emily whispered in a drawn out voice. She immediately started snooping around the webpage, and with a smirky smile, landed on the most recently viewed profile. She opened it and had a quick read, trying her best not to erupt with laughter and kill the act. After she had taken in enough information, she quickly closed the window and got up, wandering into the kitchen. Cuddy was standing at the sink, opening a fresh bottle of 'Fiji' water.

"So…" Emily said, trying to look casual, "what's happening at the hospital today?"

"Oh, just the usual, meetings, patients, yelling at Dr House," Cuddy replied, taking a sip of her water, and strangely enough not finding it unusual that Emily was enquiring about the hospital.

"Seeing anyone for lunch? Maybe… Maxwell Abatte?"

Cuddy immediately spluttered and quickly had to move over the sink to prevent the water splaying out her mouth from going everywhere. Emily just stood, leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed, and a smug smile on her face.

"I hear he's an excellent surgeon in Connecticut. He's only 35 you know, and his hobbies include golf, basketball, listening to Dire Straits, and ah… horseback riding," Emily said with a grin. Cuddy was completely speechless. She had no idea how to react.

"You know what, I bet you two would get along tremendously," Emily continued teasingly. "He seems just like your type."

"He… I… not… we're," Cuddy stuttered.

"Awww mom, don't worry, I think it's cute!' Emily said condescendingly. Cuddy managed to compose herself and put her hands on her hips, casting a glare at Emily.

"Don't patronize me. And besides, it wasn't me that was on that website," Cuddy lied badly.

"Oh come on. Like I believe that," Emily said with a roll of her eyes.

"So what, I'm not allowed to date?" Cuddy replied.

"No, it's just that… internet dating, mom?" Emily asked with a cringe and a bit of a chuckle. Cuddy squared her jaw and shifted her weight onto her other foot.

"There is nothing wrong with internet dating," she defended, "it's not like it's easy for me to meet nice men, I work practically around the clock, I don't have time to go out to…" Cuddy trailed off.

"Ok, ok," Emily said, heading out the room, "just don't use your audiobook collection as an opening conversation topic."

"What?" Cuddy said in disbelief, as Emily left the room with a smug smile on her face.

"Emily? What are you talking about? What audiobooks," Cuddy called after her, but Emily kept walking and Cuddy was left dumbstruck in the kitchen.

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_**A/N:** So there you go, hope you enjoyed! Once again, sorry about its short length. Please review on your way out! Btw, all of Cuddy's audiobooks are real titles (I don't know if they actually are available on audiobook though). So go me for doing research!_

_Coming up next… we find out who daddy dearest is, and a past that Cuddy has tried to keep hidden._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

_**A/N:** Yay! A new chapter! Took me long enough, really. But this is a nice big one. Thanks again to all the reviewers, you are CHAMPIONS, **prinnie**, **lillie**, **Smiling4eva**, **Jojo**, **BookwormKiwi**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy**, **Jane QD**, you all rock my jocks! You are keeping the flame alive, and I love it._

_Anyway, enjoy reading chapter 6, please review, it's extra big and full of juicy bits, so you have no reason not to!_

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"Emily Cuddy to Dr Cuddy's office please, Emily Cuddy to see Dr Cuddy in her office immediately, please."

The nurse's voice came across a little crackled as it called throughout the hallways of the hospital through its PA system. Cameron sat in the diagnostic's room, put-out, her arms crossed tightly as she watched Foreman and Chase continue to flirt shamelessly with a girl in the corridor. She didn't know who she was, but for the past week and a bit she had been taking up all of the boys' time – including the time they should have been spending with patients. Cameron was feeling very left out and neglected, and this was further reinforced by the fact that the hospital gossip network hadn't yet told her who this girl was. She watched as the girl laughed with Foreman and Chase – especially with Chase – and all of a sudden, her curiosity piqued when the girl let out an irritated sigh just as the announcement came over the PA. Cameron sat up in her chair, finally putting two and two together. The girl waved a playful and sad goodbye to the two doctors, then they headed back into the diagnostics room, both looking rather disappointed that their flirting session had been cut short.

"Who was that?" Cameron asked, trying to be casual as the boys entered the room.

"Emily Cuddy," Foreman replied.

"Dr Cuddy's daughter," Chase added, both men sitting down at the table, hearts broken.

"Cuddy has a daughter!" Cameron said, her eyes widening.

"Umm… yeah," Chase replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Cameron let out a dejected sigh.

"No one ever tells me anything," she pouted.

"That's probably because you just go and rat them out to House, or Wilson, or Cuddy, or… anyone, really," Foreman replied with a smirky smile, and Cameron just rolled her eyes. Yes, she was definitely feeling most dejected as of late.

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"Is this a no shoes no service kinda joint, or can I relieve myself from this constant pain?" Emily asked, cringing at her rubbing shoes as she entered her mother's office.

"That's the price you pay for not wearing in new shoes before deciding to sport them for an entire day," Cuddy said, shuffling papers and standing up.

"Anyway, you rang?" Emily said, sitting down opposite Cuddy's desk, and taking off her shoes.

"I just got a phone call," Cuddy said with an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' grin.

"Good for you, mom. Would you mind sitting down, by the way? I'm kinda straining my neck here," Emily replied, looking up as Cuddy's short stature towered over the desk. She rolled her eyes and sat down, paralleling her daughter.

"The phone call was from Mrs McPherson," Cuddy added, baiting her daughter. Emily immediately froze.

"She was wondering when she was going to get the money for the damage you did to her car," Cuddy continued, adding a bit of bite to her voice.

"Umm… tell her I'll get back to her," Emily replied, trying to worm her way out of the situation.

"Emily. What did you do to her car?" Cuddy asked sternly. Emily rolled her eyes at her mother's over-dramatization.

"I just clipped it, nothing big. A bit of damage to the driver's side door, that's all. Oh and one of the lights and review mirrors," she cringed. Cuddy squared her jaw and adjusted herself in her seat.

"Ok, so it was kinda expensive damage! Eesh, I hate how you can always make me feel like I'm ten years old," Emily sulked, crossing her arms.

"How exactly do you intend on paying her back?" Cuddy interrogated.

"I dunno," Emily groaned, dramatically dropping her head onto the desk, "I don't have any money."

"Well, lucky for you, I've come up with a way," Cuddy said with a devilish grin. Things weren't looking up for Emily. "I've decided that I am sick of bailing you out of things… including jail -"

"That was one time, mom! One time! And I thought we promised to never bring it up again!" Emily defended, bring her head back up to argue. Cuddy continued, un-phased.

"… and you are going to pay it off for once."

"Fine, I'll start looking for a job tomorrow," Emily sighed, defeated.

"Oh no, no, no. I've already found you one," Cuddy smiled. Emily's eyes widened as she realized what direction this was going in.

"You're going to be a candy striper," Cuddy said with a chirpy grin.

"No!" Emily protested, her jaw dropping and her eyes pleading.

"If you want me to pay for the damage you've done, oh, and of course getting your car back from being impounded, then you are going to have to play by my rules."

"Candy stripers are at the bottom of the hospital social order! They don't even get paid!" Emily reasoned.

"Correct. They're volunteers, and despite the good they do, they remain meat for the taking. That's why I think it'll be good for you."

"You are horrible," Emily pouted.

"Awww, poor baby," Cuddy said with mock sadness. "All you've been doing since you got here is following around Dr House and the diagnostic team, distracting them whenever possible, so I figured your presence here could actually have a purpose."

"For your information, I have not yet met the famous Dr House. He's done a pretty good job of avoiding me since I ran into him about a week ago," Emily replied, beginning to resign to her fate.

"Well, consider yourself lucky."

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"Okay, I've done the polite thing for long enough," House said, stepping into Cuddy's office, once again ignoring the objections of her assistant.

"When did you start doing polite?" Cuddy asked, looking up from the mountain of work on her desk.

"I have waited over a week, I have given you sufficient space to mull over how you were going to deal with this, and now I'm sick of waiting," House demanded.

"What are you sick of waiting for?" Cuddy sighed exasperatingly, she sick of waiting for House to make a point.

"When did you plan on telling me that I'm a father?" House asked leaning on his cane, towering over Cuddy's desk. Cuddy took in a sharp breath and let it out in a sigh.

"I was wondering when you were gonna bring this up," she said, defeated.

"I'm surprised _I_ was the one that had to bring it up at all, after 20 years," House replied sharply.

"Sit down, House," Cuddy said. He obliged her request, for once, and sat down in the chair opposite, putting his cane on her desk. They sat in silence for a moment, each looking at the other, expecting them to say the next thing.

"They're not yours," Cuddy said informatively. House just looked at her blankly. Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"They were born in December. We were together in January, Greg."

"Well you obviously moved on quickly, then. Not even waiting two months..." House said in mock-hurt. Cuddy rolled her eyes again – a thing she found herself doing a lot in House's presence.

"If I recall correctly, you had Jennifer Ballmer in your bed not a week after we broke it off," Cuddy replied.

"So who's daddy dearest then?" House asked, changing the subject and leaning back in his chair, feeling a small weight lift from his shoulders.

"I can see we're going into this now," Cuddy said, rubbing her forehead exasperatingly.

"Looks like it, doesn't it," House replied with a grin.

"His name is Harvey O'Brien," she said with a sigh.

"Harvey, huh? Sounds like someone was getting it on with a jock," House remarked.

"If we're going to do this, can you keep the comments to a minimum please?" Cuddy said, tired and upset that she had to open this wound again.

"No promises," House replied, and Cuddy figured that was the best she was going to get out of him, so continued.

"We went out for no more than a month, then we broke up and I transferred to Stanford before I even found out I was pregnant."

"What, so he doesn't know?"

"I assume not. He probably has his own family by now, and its better that he never knows now anyway," Cuddy said, playing with her hands as they rested on top of a pile of legal documents.

"What about your mini-me's?"

"They know about him. They've never shown much interest though, thank god," she replied solemnly.

"Well, this is turning out to be juicier than General Hospital! Maybe I could TiVo you, instead," House said with a grin.

"It's great to know that you're taking pleasure in this," Cuddy replied sarcastically.

"_Someone_ has to sell your story to E! Hollywood, and I can think of none better than yours truly."

Cuddy sighed and remained quiet for a while as she lamented the burden she had carried for so many years. "You have clinic duty," she said softly.

"And you really expect me to go?" House replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Just do it, please," Cuddy pleaded, wanting nothing more than to wallow in the mess she had created for herself, alone. House, although usually completely indifferent to others emotions, didn't like this side of Cuddy he had evoked, and decided to quietly slip out of the office, leaving Cuddy to mull over her undesired past.

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Emily rushed out the hospital doors into the carpark, ferociously dialing a familiar number into the keypad of her phone. She put it up to her ear as it began to ring on the other end, and she stopped beside a parked car, nervously jiggling her leg.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," she mumbled into the phone as it continued ringing. It clicked through to an answering machine, and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Hey, looks like I'm studying. Big surprise seeing as this is a college dorm. Leave a message or call my cell," Anna's deadpan recording echoed along the phone line.

"I know you're there! Pick up the damn phone. This is an emergency! I have a serious issue and I need you to get off your ass and talk to me! It's your own fault for always packing the dorm phone last," Emily's voice called out through the answering machine. Anna lay on her bed, flat on her back, tucked tightly under the duvet, her dark curls contrasting against the clean white pillow, arms over the covers and straight by her sides. She stared up at the ceiling and groaned.

"I'm not going to leave you alone until you answer. I will just keep talking, and calling, and talking, and calling -" Anna's right hand reached out and she hit the speakerphone button.

"I'm asleep," she said bitterly, still lying flat, eyes to the ceiling.

"It's 2pm," Emily replied, leaning against the car she was standing in front of, only to have it's alarm start blaring. She quickly ran halfway across the carpark, trying to get away from the deafening screech. On the other end of the line, the alarm had most certainly woken up an agitated Anna. Emily stopped running, and panted down the phone.

"You _have_ to come home," she pleaded.

"Is she dead?" Anna asked in a deadpan voice.

"What? No! Mom is not dead, Anna! Do you have to be so morbid…?"

"Then I don't see a reason to come home," she replied, shutting her eyes and reaching out to turn off the phone.

"Don't – do NOT hang up on me!" Emily called, knowing what her sister was doing.

"I'm staying at Aunt Linda's for the summer, if you wanna talk you can reach me there," Anna argued.

"Aunt Linda's? Again? No, Anna, you haven't been home since Christmas," the lighter haired twin argued.

"So let's see if I can make it 'till next Christmas," she replied cynically.

"What about mom?" Emily pleaded. Anna rolled her eyes. "She misses you."

"She also misses her youth, but she's not gonna get that back," Anna replied scathingly.

"You can't hide away at Aunt Linda's the rest of your life."

"Why not?"

"Don't be difficult. You are coming home whether you like it or not," Emily said sternly. Anna sniggered.

"Give me one good reason why I should subject myself to Lisa's constant scrutiny for the entire summer?"

"We're calling her Lisa now? Talk about detaching yourself," Emily replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I was just trying it out. Did it work?"

"Not really."

"Okay. Now what was that reason for my life to come to an abrupt end?" Anna asked, trying to relax into the bed.

Emily took a minute to create a dramatic silence before squaring her jaw and uttering, "She made me a candy striper."

Anna scoffed. "You're joking."

"Do I sound like I'm joking?" Emily replied bitterly.

"Candy stripers are at the bottom of the hospital social order," Anna said flatly.

"That's what I said. But no… apparently now, because she's paying to fix the damage I did to Mrs McPherson's car, I have to play by her rules."

"That sounds like her," Anna smirked.

"_Please_, I need you to come home and bail me out. I need you to be my barrier," Emily pleaded.

"You expect _me_ to be the barrier? I'll probably have a panic attack the moment I see that woman."

"I just need some support here. I cannot go through this summer alone," Emily begged. There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Anna let out a defeated sigh.

"Fine."

"Fine!" Emily replied excitedly.

"Yes, fine, I will come home," Anna said dejectedly.

"Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" Emily squealed.

"Don't get too excited. I haven't finished packing yet."

"Well get onto it! No time to waste!" she gushed happily, before hanging up the phone with a smile. Anna lay on her bed and let out a loud, angry groan, trying to vent her frustration. She quickly reached for her asthma puffer, which was located conveniently on the bedside table, and took several doses in a row, trying to calm herself. This was going to be one long summer.

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_**A/N:** don't forget to review on your way out, my dears!_

_Coming up next… Anna arrives home, and sparks will fly between Emily and one of the ducklings._


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

_**A/N: **yay, thankyou for the reviews! Oh I love ya all! I am such a review whore – whenever I check my emails and there's a review alert, I always wait till last to read it, just to make it extra special! Yes, I am obsessed. By the way, it's my website's 6 month anniversary today, and has been revamped – so feel free to check it out!_

_So many reviews! **GallopGirl**, **Jojo**, **Smiling4eva**, **TNIIT**, **QT Roo**, **Princess-Leasel**, **prinnie**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy**, **BookwormKiwi**, you all rock my jocks! It's great to know that more people are reading my story and enjoying it._

_This is another kinda-long chapter (yay!), so enjoy, and do take the time to review at the end._

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Cuddy walked out of her office, handbag slung over her shoulder at the end of another long business day. She let the door shut behind her as she lifted her eyes to see an unusual hush come across the nightshift nurses. They all looked at her simultaneously, obviously having been talking about her only moments before. Cuddy was used to hospital gossip – she got a full work up on it from her assistant everyday. But never before had she beared the full brunt of it. For once, the gossip was about her, and this was something she was very uncomfortable with. They all knew about her daughter, and they knew that she had kept her motherhood a secret for so many years. She knew what they were thinking. She knew they were all judging her, and all wondering how she could be so ashamed of her children that she would omit them from every conversation she had for 20 years. After all, had the roles been reversed, she would be secretly interested under her seemingly nonchalant mask.

She gave a forced smile and a quick acknowledging nod – she would normally say a warm 'goodnight' - before high tailing it out of the clinic. She let out a deep relived sigh as the clinic doors shut behind her, muffling the loud whispers of the gossiping nurses. She gave herself a moment to regroup, before striding confidently towards the front of the hospital. She stopped suddenly and almost tripped over as a cane – which could only belong to one person – appeared unexpectedly and horizontally at her waist height.

"House!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"I noticed one extra red and white striped piece of hospital chow today," House replied, lowering his cane and ignoring her question.

"What's your point?"

"Everyone's talking about how 'Dr Cuddy forced her daughter to become a candy striper. How horrible!' Even _I_ am surprised that you would subject your own offspring to such blatant abuse and condescension. But then again, you _are_ an evil dictator," House prattled.

"The issue is between Emily and me," Cuddy said matter-of-factly.

"And the whole hospital," House added. "Oh, I'm sorry; did you forget that the nursing staff believes everyone's business is their business?"

"House, what exactly do you want?" Cuddy asked with a frustrated sigh.

"A straight answer," he replied.

"Huh. Irony," Cuddy muttered.

"What is going on in that little self-loathing world of yours?" House asked, peering down at Cuddy with analytical eyes.

"Excuse me?" she said, recoiling back for a moment, surprised by the suddenness and impulsiveness of the question, as well as the seemingly unintentional closeness between them that House had created.

"Not once today did you bust my balls for clinic duty, or anything else for that matter. Now usually, I would relish in life's little joys and treasures such as that, but not today. You are avoiding me, Cuddy," he said accusingly.

"Wh… why would I avoid you?" Cuddy stammered, trying to be confident in her comeback.

"Pssh," House replied, leaning back, and twirling his cane in the air dramatically. Cuddy stared at him, waiting for a response. He looked her in the eye, and faltered for a reason.

"Okay, so I haven't figured out why yet. But I will. I'm a diagnostician, I am paid to observe and analyze," he said, leaning heavily on his cane, in a faux-casual manner.

"You're also paid to do paperwork and clinic duty, but you never seem to find time for that," Cuddy quipped back. House rolled his eyes and clutched at his chest dramatically. He then took a moment to stare probingly into Cuddy's eyes, a move that made her suddenly very uncomfortable. It was as if he were trying to uncover all her lifetime of secrets in one single stare. She broke his unnerving gaze, and headed for the doors.

"Goodnight Dr House," she said pointedly, quickly escaping out the doors before House had a chance to reply.

Cuddy walked across the carpark, the incident with House still on her mind. Sometimes she just could not figure him out. It didn't take long for her to reach her car – after all, she was the Dean of Medicine, and had the prime parking space. Of course, her daughter was already leaning against the car waiting for her.

"You got changed fast," Cuddy commented, noticing Emily had changed out of her candy striper uniform.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to stay in the red and white forever, mom," Emily replied sourly, arms crossed.

"Oh, I was hoping we could go door knocking to show the neighbourhood your new occupation," Cuddy quipped. Emily rolled her eyes, and Cuddy fished for her keys in her purse, pulling out the remote and unlocking the car. Emily opened the passenger door and got inside, with Cuddy not far behind on the drivers side. Cuddy sighed as she got herself comfortable in the seat, passing her handbag off to Emily.

"So," she said, placing the keys in the ignition, "tomorrow is the first Saturday I've had off in ages, what do you want to do? I was thinking we'd jogging in the morning, then do some shopping – I need new shoes, and I know you can always find something new to buy as long as I'm paying. Maybe get facials in the afternoon, then rent some DVDs and order takeout. After all, you've been home for over a week and we've hardly had any time to spend together."

"Way to anally plan the day," Emily said with a roll of her eyes, but then realized a little thing she hadn't yet told her mother about.

"Oh yeah, about that… I don't think we're gonna have time to fit it all in," she cringed.

"Of course we will, you know I can always find a way," Cuddy replied.

"No, it's not that… it's just… we're gonna be kinda busy tomorrow anyway."

"Why?"

"Well… as you know, the school year is now over and -"

"No," Cuddy said disbelievingly.

"Yes. Anna is coming home," Emily replied.

"I would've thought she'd hide away at Linda's like she did last holidays," Cuddy commented.

"Well, I talked her out of it. And I think she misses you," Emily added.

Cuddy scoffed, "Yeah, that's likely."

"Either way, she's arriving obscenely early, and will probably demand most of our day," Emily replied.

"How early?" Cuddy asked.

"Like 10am," Emily said with disdain, and Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Well there's still time for a jog," she replied, slowing the car as they reached a red light.

"With you there's always time for a jog," Emily retorted. Cuddy gave a disapproving look, but then still let out a smile in spite of herself as the traffic light turned green. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, riding smoothly down the road, both casually contemplating the thoughts that ran through their heads. As they turned into the familiar setting of their street, Cuddy broke the silence.

"So… she's coming home willingly?" she asked.

"I never said _willingly_," Emily replied, evoking a small pout from Cuddy.

"But she's still coming home," Cuddy reassured herself. _There's hope yet._

00

Anna Cuddy nervously tapped the steering wheel as she drove through the suburban streets she once called home. She took one last drag of her burned down cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray to her right. After pushing her dark sunglasses up the ridge of her nose, she reached down to the pack for another cigarette, lighting it as she tried to focus on the road, and the tape she was listening to at the same time.

"_Now repeat after me_," the soothing male voice called through the speakers, "_I am in charge of my own destiny_."

"I am in charge of my own destiny," Anna repeated emphatically, taking a puff of her inhaler before moving the new cigarette up to her lips.

"_My life is completely within my control_."

"My life is completely within my control," she duplicated, nodding her head ardently, cigarette sitting precariously between her lips.

"_Nothing happens by chance, but by only what I -_"

"Shit!" Anna cursed, as the cigarette fell from her lips onto her lap. She immediately looked down, desperately trying to find it, feeling it burn her lap. Taking her eyes off the road however, did not prove a great idea, and she swerved into the on coming traffic. She managed to grab the cigarette just in time for a passing car to blare its horn at her. She stuck her head up and blasted her horn right back, moving to the correct side of the road.

"Crap," she muttered, placing the cigarette in the ashtray and trying to dust off her pants at the same time. All this kafuffle had caused her to loose her bearings, and before she knew it, she was outside the house she grew up in. She grabbed her puffer, taking another deep, long puff, before speeding up the driveway of the family home. She didn't get far though - her mother's car was only halfway up the drive - so the trailer Anna was hauling ended up blocking off the sidewalk. She roughly turned off the ignition and took one last drag on the half-lit cigarette, before fully putting it out, and opening the car door. The front door of the house opened, and out rushed Emily in shorts and a tank top, a wide smile on her face. Anna closed the car door and turned to see her sister standing on the edge of the driveway, smile fading.

"You're blocking the sidewalk," she commented, flicking her long low ponytail over her shoulder.

"Screw the sidewalk," Anna griped, angrily pushing her sunglasses up her nose, and moving around the side of the car.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Emily replied playfully with a mock-angry face.

"Ugh, don't taunt me with the happiness. Where is she?" Anna asked, leaning against the passenger side door, deliberately keeping her distance from Emily.

"Inside. Well? Don't just stand there, embrace me," Emily smiled, holding out her arms. Anna left her post at the car, and willing accepted her sister's hug.

"Oh, I missed ya sis," Emily said, squeezing Anna tightly, much to the darker haired twin's discomfort.

"It's not like we haven't talked," Anna mumbled.

"But it's not the same," Emily replied, rubbing Anna's back lovingly and extending the embrace a lot longer than was necessary. Finally, Anna managed to pull away, and gave a half-assed smile instead.

"Oh please, you can do better than that," Emily complained of Anna's poor attempt at amiability.

"Sorry. I'm not exactly looking forward to… going inside," Anna replied, gesturing towards the door.

"Hmm," Emily concurred. She took a step back and looked her sister up and down.

"Anna, you have got to add some more color to your wardrobe," she said, noticing Anna's dark jeans, black shirt and dark glasses.

"I'll go out and buy my fluro pink mini skirt tomorrow," Anna replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"And you should do something with your hair," Emily said, taking some of Anna's half down curly hair in her hand, only to have her hand slapped away.

"My hair is fine. And would you stop criticizing me please? I'm gonna get enough of that from mom," Anna sulked, and Emily pouted.

"Why on earth do you have a trailer, and why is it blocking the sidewalk?" Cuddy commented, stepping out the front door and walking towards the twins.

"And so it begins," Anna muttered.

"That's what I told her, and her answer was a very mature 'screw the sidewalk'," Emily replied, turning her head to speak to her mother, evoking an eye roll from Cuddy.

"Kiss-ass," Anna whispered at her sister.

"And I assume you're gonna expect us to haul all your stuff inside, too," Cuddy said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.

"Hi mom," Anna said dryly.

"Hello Anna," Cuddy replied just as dryly.

00

_**A/N:** "And so it begins" INDEED! This is where all the juicy stuff starts, and we start to find out about what caused all that awkwardness between mother and daughter._

_Coming up next… while Emily makes a connection with one duckling, she has a confrontation with another, and tension builds between Anna and Cuddy._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

_**A/N: **FINALLY! I know, it's been a long time. I've had some incredibly crappy writers block, and I've been busy with the relis coming to visit over the chrissy period. But, chapter 8 is here, and it is HUGE! It's like a double chapter. So that should keep you all happy for a while!_

_Thankyou to all my awesome reviewers, **Gallopgirl**, **Jojo**, **Smiling4eva**, **QT Roo**, **BookwormKiwi**, **FriendsHolic**, **TNIIT**, **StopTheWorldI'mGettingDizzy**, **Princess-Leasel**, **Prinnie**, you all make my day by pressing that little button and saying a few words._

_What kind of asthmatic smokes? One with a LOT of issues…_

00

Anna Cuddy walked into Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, a sour look on her face. Her mother and sister had gone inside about ten minutes ago, Anna using the "I left something in the car" excuse, when really she just needed a cigarette. She hadn't wanted to come in the first place, but Emily insisted on having her there for the company. Anna had argued, "I'm sure you can find some male nurses to flirt with instead," but only received a glare from Emily in reply.

As she entered the hospital, she made a point to look around everywhere. It was nice. Of course, she didn't expect any less from her perfectionist of a mother. She smirked as she surveyed the plethora of glass, obviously an architectural feature suggested by Lisa – she always liked to keep an eye on what everyone was doing. Anna took off her dark sunglasses, revealing her pure blue eyes, and slipped her regular glasses on. As she began walking through the hospital, several people had to do a double take. She look like a younger Cuddy, though dressed in black chucks, black skinny leg jeans, and a black and tiny white polka-dots baby doll button-down shirt, with white piping around the edges and a wide black belt high around her petite waist. A few people walked up to her about to say something, but quickly stopped themselves and rushed away when they realized she wasn't the person they wanted to talk to. She walked casually through the hospital, peering through doorways inquisitively, and pretty much just having a good nosey. She wandered around for a while, opting to use the stairs between floors instead of the lift, and slowed as she reached the diagnostics department. She looked through the glass as a group of three young doctors sat at a table - all looking extremely tired and bored - and an older man stood in front of a whiteboard, tapping it viciously with a cane, obviously giving the three younger doctors an earful. She smiled as the younger doctors gave tired answers to the older doctor's questions, apparently throwing around possible diagnoses'. Anna sighed and stared for a moment. She was thinking of diagnostics for her specialty, but was tossing it up with oncology. Oncology was winning.

All this thought of college and doctors made her nervous, and she started looking for the way out. She headed down the stairs quickly, itching for a cigarette. Finally, she found the entrance she had come in through, and swiftly headed outside. She pushed through the doors and walked a few paces before stopping and reaching into her bag for her asthma puffer. She grabbed it and took a long puff before reaching back into her purse for her carton of cigarettes. _Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby._ She hastily flipped the lid back, ignoring the warning as habit had taught her to, and pulled one out, slipping it between her lips. She reached back into her purse for her lighter and pulled it out, lighting up. She took a deep drag, and sighed on exhale. Feeling her nerves calm, she put the carton and lighter back into her bag. She wandered casually back and forth outside the entrance, intermittently inhaling and exhaling puffs of smoke. She was just making her fifth pass back across the entrance, her cigarette half gone; when the door swung open and someone grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.

"What on _earth_ do you think you are doing!" Cuddy demanded, snatching the cigarette from Anna's mouth.

"Hey!" she protested. Cuddy put a hand on her hip, a shocked look on her face.

"You're asthmatic!" she replied, scandalized, "What are you doing smoking?"

"It's not a big deal, mom," Anna said, rolling her eyes. Cuddy dropped the cigarette to the ground and stood on it, before picking it up and throwing it in the bin – not wanting cigarette butts to start collecting out the front of her hospital. She jutted out her jaw and crossed her arms.

"It _is_ a big deal, it could kill you," she replied.

"I could also be killed by a car on the way home tonight," Anna said defiantly, crossing her arms to mirror her mother's, though her taller stature put her a good four inches above her.

"Since when did you become little miss risk taker?" Cuddy asked, disbelieving of her daughter's attitude.

"Oh please," Anna replied sourly, rolling her eyes, and going back into her purse, pulling out the packet of cigarettes. Cuddy immediately snatched it away.

"Hey!" Anna protested angrily, "Give them back!"

"I am not gonna let you kill yourself by kick-starting an asthma attack. You should be smarter than that," Cuddy demeaned.

"Yeah, I've been getting _that_ message loud and clear for the last 18 years," Anna replied bitterly.

"Anna…" Cuddy said, her voice softening and growing quieter, arms uncrossing. "What's going on? This isn't like you, smoking…"

"How would you know what _is_ like me? You don't know me. And quite frankly, I don't want you to," she replied bitingly. Cuddy bit her lip and rubbed her neck uncomfortably.

"I know you still hate me about what happened with Linda -"

"At least you've got one thing right…"

"- but… I…" Cuddy trailed off, lost for what to say.

"See, no explanation," Anna replied, shaking her head and walking back into the hospital, leaving her mother outside, still lost for words.

00

Chase was elated to escape the diagnostics room after House made another crack about his hair. They had been creeping into the lunch hour because Foreman spent a decade trying to explain his theory – and House gets cranky when he isn't fed – so he fired some bitchy comments at Chase. Just as Chase rounded the corner, a pretty candy striper approached him, and he smirked.

"Oooh, looking hot Emily," he quipped, chuckling at her red and white uniform.

"Insert laughter here," she said, holding her hands up together, palms about a centimeter apart. She looked quite the part, with her hair in low loose pigtails, and a white ribbon as a headband, matching her uniform.

"Clean any bedpans yet?" he laughed.

"Yeah alright, that's enough," she said sourly, "I know the boss lady, and wouldn't hesitate in getting you fired."

"Sorry," he replied, obviously not, a grin still plastered on his face.

"Escaped from Dr House's evil clutches?" Emily asked.

"Just about to go get some lunch. I wanna grab a Reuben before he comes and eats them all," Chase replied.

"Well what a coincidence, I was about to get lunch myself," Emily said with a playful smile.

"May I escort the young lady?" Chase asked humorously, offering his arm.

"Why of course," Emily replied in an uppity English accent, linking her arms through his, and smiling as they both headed off towards the cafeteria.

Foreman and Cameron rounded the corner behind them, Cameron immediately looking put-out as soon as she saw Chase and Emily happily linking arms.

"How long do you reckon, before those two are doing the no pants dance?" Foreman asked her with a smirk.

"I think she's just using him," Cameron said seriously, as they continued walking behind the two, who were constantly flirting and laughing.

"_She's_ using _him_?" Foreman scoffed. "If anyone was using anyone, it would be the other way around. After all, she's Cuddy's daughter."

"Exactly," Cameron replied, crossing her arms and watching them. Foreman looked at Cameron and raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's acting a bit jealous," he commented. Cameron put on a scoff.

"Oh please. Why would I be jealous of her? I'm a successful, highly paid doctor, and she's just riding on her mom's coat tails. Chase isn't gonna be interested in her," Cameron defended.

"Looks like he already is."

00

Chase and Emily sat at a table in the cafeteria opposite each other, he just polishing off his Reuben, and she, having finished her salad, picking at some fries. They had been engaging in flirty banter for the last half an hour, with Cameron watching from another table basically ignoring everything Foreman was saying to her. When the contents of Chase's sandwich slipped out from between the two slices of bread and Emily proceeded to erupt with laughter, Cameron couldn't help but completely turn and look at them, eyebrow raised. Even further, when a bit of sauerkraut had landed in Emily's hair after somehow being flung across the table, and Chase had leaned over to take it out for her, Cameron had blushed bright pink and immediately turned her attention back to Foreman, trying to hide her awkwardness.

"Cameron, what is up with you?" asked Foreman, obviously irritated by Cameron's distant behaviour – he was trying to talk about himself.

"Nothing, I…" she stumbled, "wouldn't you have thought she'd look more like Cuddy?"

"Huh?" Foreman replied, slightly confused.

"I mean, yeah you can tell she's her daughter, but her colouring is completely different, and her hair is straight and light brown…" Cameron mused.

"Umm, Cameron, this is a bit awkward that you don't know by now… but it takes two people to have a baby," Foreman said, as if he were talking to a child.

Cameron cracked a smile and let out a small chuckle, "I know that. And I know that she probably looks like her dad, but I always thought that if Cuddy ever had a baby she'd _make_ it look like her, like through the power of her mind or something. Will it to be exactly how she wanted."

Foreman raised an eyebrow. "This was _all_ those times you've thought about Cuddy having a baby."

Cameron shook her head and laughed at Foreman, "Okay, new subject."

"Well, I'd love to see you try to fumble your way out of this one, but I gotta use the john before we get back to work, so I'll see you in a minute," he said, getting up from table and walking off with a grin. Cameron looked back over at Chase's table to find he too had gone, and Emily was left polishing off the few fries she had left by herself. Cameron saw this as an opportunity, and quickly got up out of her seat, and headed towards Emily. She immediately sat down where Chase had been sitting.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Dr Cameron." Emily looked up from her salad and gave a small smile.

"So I've heard," she replied.

"And you must be Emily," Cameron added.

"Indeed I must," Emily replied, sensing that this girl was going to start probing for information _very_ soon.

"Dr Cuddy's daughter?" Cameron went on, still looking for more confirmation.

"Look familiar?" Emily asked, sticking her chest out, squishing her breasts together and smiling wickedly. Cameron turned bright red and quickly tried to look anywhere that wasn't Emily's chest. It took her a moment to work up the courage to ask another question to this girl who so obviously wouldn't be embarrassed by a thing Cameron could throw at her.

"So… I guess you're used to hanging about at your mom's hospital," Cameron said casually, knowing full well that Emily hadn't been to Princeton Plainsboro in all the years that Cameron had been working there.

"Nah, Anna and I never usually hung around where she was working – we had school and stuff, and she was always so busy at work that us visiting would just be an extra burden," Emily explained.

"Anna?" Cameron asked, confused.

"My sister," Emily answered casually, popping a fry into her mouth.

"You have a sister?" Cameron continued, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Twin," Emily said, just as casually as before.

"So how do I know that I'm really talking to Emily?" Cameron asked, trying her best to be playful.

"Because _I'm_ Emily, and not all twins are identical. We're _fraternal_," Emily replied, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice. Cameron tried her best to ignore that hint of condescension and continued her questioning.

"So what do you do? Are you at college?" she asked, still trying her best to be nice.

"No, I'm an actor," Emily replied, having finished her fries and wanting to get away from this nosey doctor. Emily saw that flick of a smirk in Cameron when she told her that she was an actor – that happened a lot when she was talking to doctors, especially ones like her grandfather.

"What about your sister? Is she an actor too?" Cameron asked, a small smile growing on her face.

"No, she's a med student. At Harvard," Emily replied, slightly bitingly. Well, that shut Cameron up.

"So," Cameron continued, after a moment or two of silence, "I noticed you were having lunch with Dr Chase."

"Rob? Yeah, he's a great guy," Emily replied. Cameron's stomach tightened as Emily casually used Chase's first name.

"He is. Are you two…?" Cameron asked, hinting towards a relationship.

"Oh no, no," Emily answered with a chuckle, "but, you never know..."

"Really? Well, I better warn you – he's not really a commitment kinda guy."

"Well thanks for the heads up Al, but I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself," Emily replied, sick of Cameron's probing. Cameron churned at the nickname.

"It's Cameron, or Dr Cameron," she corrected slightly icily.

"Oh sorry, I thought we were doing first names, since you weren't calling me Cuddy," Emily quipped back.

"Even if we were, the name's Allison," Cameron spat, trying her best to remain composed and nice. This conversation was getting heated very quickly.

"Well Allison, as lovely as this has been, I've got to get back to work, and I think you do to," Emily said, standing up.

"Of course, those bedpans won't clean themselves," Cameron smirked. Emily squared her jaw as Cameron quickly sauntered away.

00

"Can you fire someone for me?"

"Who?" Cuddy asked casually, not looking up from her work.

"Allison Cameron," Emily replied with distaste, as she sat down in the chair opposite her mother.

"Well hun, I'd love too, but that would be unfair dismissal," Cuddy said, still not looking up from her mounds of paperwork.

"She's a bitch," Emily added, crossing her arms defiantly. Cuddy looked up from her paperwork with a raised eyebrow.

"Sounds like someone had an unpleasant experience just recently," Cuddy replied, folding her arms on the table and leaning forward in interest.

"She basically ambushed me in the cafeteria at lunch and started shamelessly probing me for information on myself and Anna, and… other stuff that wasn't her business. She wasn't being very nice about it either, let me tell you," Emily said, carefully omitting their talk of Chase from the conversation.

"Well that's a little rude," Cuddy replied simply.

"You're telling me. She seemed so pleasant from a distance… but I spose looks can be deceiving," Anna said.

"I wonder why she suddenly decided to bring the claws out on you?" Cuddy asked, bemused. Emily then decided it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her mom that she'd been flirting outrageously with a hot young doctor.

"Who knows? These sorts of attacks are never paired with logic," Emily replied flippantly. "She was like a lioness on the prowl... hunting down her prey then ripping at me with her huge claws, teeth bared, ploughing into my flesh."

Both women were silent for a moment, processing, then laughed at the visual Emily had created.

"Yeah alright, that's enough, she's one of my staff and quite frankly she's a decent doctor. Although I admit her 'high moral stance' and need to know everything about everyone is annoying at times, she inevitably gets the job done," Cuddy said, turning her attention back to her work. They sat quietly for a minute, Cuddy doing her paperwork, and Emily twiddling her thumbs and looking around absent mindly. Emily had already gotten changed out of her candy striper outfit – she always brought a change of clothes so that she wouldn't have to wear it to and from the hospital – so she was just waiting for her mom to finish up work so they could go home.

"Where's Anna?" Emily asked, bored with just sitting around.

"How should I know," Cuddy replied, still writing, "I haven't seen her all day."

"Last I saw her she was in the oncology department following Uncle Jimmy around and hanging on his every word," Emily added.

"Oh yes, you know he mentioned that _you_ hadn't come to visit him yet," Cuddy replied with a small smirk and looked up from her work, interested.

"I'm saving it for when he least expects," Emily smiled deviously. Cuddy laughed to herself for a moment, then remembered something important.

"Oh, when did Anna start _smoking_?" Cuddy asked, obviously disapproving of the notion.

"Oh… only a few months ago. It's a _long_ story," Emily replied flippantly.

"Most of your stories are," Cuddy quipped.

"True. Well… her roommate Marianne," Emily said, then sticking her fingers in her mouth and pretending to gag, "by the way, she's like a chain smoker, and Anna would come home from class and the dorm would just be completely shrouded in smoke. After a while, as could only happen to Anna, she became addicted to the second hand smoke. So, when Marianne lit up, Anna would go and sit next to her, sucking up the smoke in the air," Emily made loud sucking noises for dramatic effect, "and all that. Then, Marianne went on spring break, and there was no second hand smoke, so Anna took it up first hand."

"I'm surprised she hasn't had an asthma attack somewhere along the line, you know what a sensitive asthmatic she is," Cuddy replied.

"Well… she always takes her medication before and after she smokes. I think she's addicted to the meds too," Emily said. Cuddy shook her head in disbelief.

"What happened to miss anti-smoking, anti-alcohol, anti-drugs, anti-gambling, anti-animal testing, anti-everything?"

"She grew up."

00

_**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Please take the time to review on your way out._

_Coming up next… Emily and 'Uncle Jimmy' have a little chat about Anna and Cuddy, and Cuddy announces that she has a date…_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

_**A/N: **Yay! Thankyou for all the wonderful reviews again! And, I was inspired, so this chapter came in only 10 days (as supposed to several weeks, like last time). Cue: Missy Higgins's music lol aaanyway, I swear, my chapters are getting bigger. This one is over 2000 words! (back in the day my chappies used to be 1000 words each, and at the beginning of this story they were about 1500 each). So, it's good news all 'round._

_Thanks to my loyal reviewers **GallopGirl**, **Smiling4eva**, **Jojo**, **prinnie**, **QT Roo** and **TNIIT**. You guys rock my jocks! I love it when you guys let me know what you think of the chapter, it just makes my day! I love you all!_

_By the way, if anyone was confused on who Linda is, she is Cuddy's older sister. More shall be explained about her and her part in the Cuddy/Anna tension later on in the story._

00

Emily Cuddy had been kicked out of her mother's office and asked not to return for an hour, as she had been deemed 'too distracting'. She wandered through the hospital aimlessly – things were pretty quiet as the day was winding down. She stumbled across the oncology area, and as she spotted the office of Dr James Wilson, a cheeky smile broke out across her face.

"So basically, you tell people that they're dieing," Anna confirmed as her and Wilson walked back to his office.

"Well… yeah, I guess," he replied, not so sure he liked his job being summed up in such a cynical manner. But, that was Anna Cuddy. They stepped into this office to find his chair was already filled. Emily sat comfortably, her feet up on Wilson's desk, and an I'm-the-boss look on her face. Wilson broke out into a smile, and Anna just rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd show your face," Wilson grinned.

"I'm sorry, who are you? If you want to see me you'll have to make an appointment with my very attractive and sexually satisfying secretary, Jill," Emily said, trying to be Wilson. Wilson rolled his eyes.

"I don't have a secretary," he reasoned.

"Well I'm sure any number of the nurses would like to play secretaries in the bedroom…" Anna smirked.

"Yeah alright, that's enough. I can't deal with both of you ganging up on me," Wilson folded. Emily let out a small giggle, and Anna chuckled.

"Well… I'm gonna go wait in the car. It's been a _long_ day," Anna said, letting out a little sigh.

"You got the keys?" she asked Emily.

"Umm… no," she replied as though it were completely obvious.

"Does… _she_ have them?" Anna asked, scrunching up her nose.

"It's _her_ car," Emily replied. Anna made a little aggravated sound before turning to leave.

"Night Uncle Jimmy," she said.

"Night," he replied, as she walked out of the office and presumably off to get the car keys.

"So," Wilson started, hands on his hips, "you've been here over a week and you choose now, when I'm about to go home, to come and see me."

"Of course," she smiled.

"Get out of my chair," he said, shooing her out of his seat, and sitting down in it himself. Emily slid herself up onto the desk and sat down next to Wilson's feet, which had swiftly made their way up onto the desk. She swung her legs carelessly, and leant on her hands.

"So, how was California?" he asked.

"Good," she replied. "Didn't get as many jobs as I hoped, but I wasn't really putting myself out there… I probably spent more time partying."

"Sounds like you," Wilson smiled.

"But yeah, Bettina came down for spring break, which was fun," she added.

"Is she still…"

"Obsessed with the 80s? Yeah," Emily nodded. Wilson chuckled.

"Well, that's one thing about that girl that will never change," he replied.

"Umm… there was a lot of sun, a lot of boys… my laptop got stolen…"

"So I hear," Wilson said, leaning back in his chair, "by your boyfriend, that you were living with, apparently."

"Gee, news gets around fast. How long did it take before she told you?" Emily asked, eyebrow raised.

"She called me the night you got home," he replied with a grin.

"Yeah, she wasn't exactly happy with that one," Emily cringed.

"You know she likes to keep things in her control. When we were kids…" he began, and Emily grinned. She'd probably heard the story a million times before, but there was nothing she loved more than a 'when we were kids' story from her Uncle Jimmy.

"… while our sisters were painting their nails and playing dress ups, and my brothers were playing basketball, _we_ used to play doctors. If you were still a little girl, this would be the point where you would come sit on my lap, but seeing as you are now an adult, that seems highly inappropriate," he continued. Emily laughed heartily and gave Wilson a playful slap on the calf, urging him to continue the story.

"Well, when we played doctors she would always make _me_ be the patient, because, of course, I was a year younger than her and wasn't old enough to be the doctor. Or at least, that was her reasoning. She'd put on her dad's old lab coat and wear her little plastic stethoscope around her neck and constantly tell me that I 'didn't look sick enough' and needed to 'pretend better'. She'd stick a copious amount of band-aids on my face, and bandage me up with tea towels and scarves. It wasn't always the most fun practice for me, but in the end we'd always go find our parents and she would beam proudly at her work in 'healing me'. My mother would go all goo-goo gah-gah over how 'cute' I looked, while Lisa's dad would tell her that next time she should let me be the doctor, because I was the boy, and girls were nurses, not doctors. Of course, she never listened, and still stuck to her original reasoning of her being older. But after a while we didn't go see our parents anymore, and sometimes Lisa would even volunteer to be the patient. She didn't like having to be the one that got bandaged up, but she did it because she knew that I liked to be the doctor too. Anyway, this story is getting more and more irrelevant to what we were talking about… and now I can't even remember what we were talking about," he said with a small chuckle and a smile. Emily, however, was still caught up in the story Wilson had been describing. Though he'd definitely told it to her before, he'd never gone as far as Emily's grandfather telling off her mother for being the doctor, and this small bit of information gave her a little more insight into Lisa's non-existent relationship with her father.

"You know, Uncle Jimmy, I don't think Anna knows much of this stuff about mom. I mean, she knows the stuff you told us when we were little, but she doesn't really know about grandpa and everything. You think, maybe if you told her, it might help her mend things over with mom?" Emily asked hopefully, in a quiet voice. Wilson shook his head remorsefully.

"It's not my place to interfere in what's between them. I tried that before, when Linda moved away, but both of them don't want to hear what I have to say on the matter. We have to let them deal with this on their own, Em," he said, placing a caring hand on Emily's knee. They sat for a moment, in quiet reflection, both of them hoping that one-day Anna and Cuddy could shorten that huge gaping chasm between them.

"Well, I better get home to Julie," Wilson said, standing up with a small sigh. Emily mirrored his sigh, and slid off the desk.

"You know, if you wanna talk about things, I'm always here," he offered. Emily smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"I might just take you up on that," she replied, embracing him lovingly.

"Nice seeing you again kiddo."

"You too Uncle Jimmy."

00

Lisa Cuddy sat in her car, sunglasses on, driving into the setting sun. Emily, sitting next to her in the front passenger seat, twiddled her thumbs aimlessly and rambled on about something or other that Cuddy wasn't really paying much attention to. Emily looked over her shoulder to see her sister sitting quietly in the seat behind Cuddy, earphones in her ears.

"What are you doing!" Emily asked, slightly flabbergasted. Anna didn't look up.

"Anna!" she said, and the taller girl looked up absent-mindly.

"Anna, what are you doing?" Emily continued. Anna took one earphone out, obviously not able to hear her sister.

"Huh?" she replied. Emily rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"What are you doing?" she asked, for the third time.

"I'm listening to music…" she replied, as if it may be a trick question.

"Well don't, it's rude," Emily whispered loudly, and Cuddy smirked to herself.

"It's the new Pernice Brothers album, I _just_ got it," Anna reasoned.

"Huh, I'd love it if _you_ would 'Discover A Lovelier You'," Emily mumbled. Anna rolled her eyes and went to put her earphone back in.

"Put it away," Emily whispered harshly, "make an effort." Anna let out a deep sigh, pulled out the other earphone and turned off her music. She clasped her hands in her lap nicely, and gave Emily a big cheesy smile, who in turn rolled her eyes and turned back to the front. Acknowledging that Anna was making an effort, and figuring that she'd never have another moment where she would listen, Cuddy decided to take advantage.

"So, I was talking to James before we left," she started, eyes still on the road, "and he invited us over for dinner on Thursday night."

"Awww really!" Emily asked excitedly, turning to face her mother. Cuddy chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, so I would _appreciate it_," she continued, emphasising for Anna's benefit, "if we could all make sure that we don't organise anything else for that night."

"Sure thing," Emily smiled, sitting back straight and nodding. Anna remained silent.

"Anna?" Cuddy asked, looking for conformation.

"Fine," Anna replied in a deadpan voice. "I like Uncle Jimmy, anyway," she added as an after thought.

"Good, it's settled then. So it's just us tomorrow night, then I've got my date on Wednesday, and we're at James' on Thursday," she said quickly, trying her best to skip casually over the 'date' part. However, it did not go unnoticed by Emily.

"What!" she shrieked, jumping and twisting in her seat to face her mother. Anna smirked to herself, and Cuddy jumped at Emily's sudden outburst and had to work hard to keep in control of the car.

"Emily, I'm trying to drive, don't scream," Cuddy said, focusing on the road and avoiding the subject.

"You have a date!" Emily continued excitedly.

"Yes, it's no big deal," Cuddy replied dismissively.

"No big deal! Of _course_ it's a big deal!" Emily cried.

"Oh, thanks," Cuddy spat sarcastically, "you make it sound like I've never been on a date before."

"Well… you haven't in a while," Emily pointed out.

"How do _you_ know?" Cuddy said indignantly, clutching at straws, "I could have gone on dates every night while you were in California."

"Yeah, and Carson Kressley could be straight after all," Emily replied, rolling her eyes. Cuddy pouted and let out a little aggravated sigh, trying to pay her full attention to the road.

"Ohhhh," Emily gasped, eyes widening, "it's that _guy_!" Cuddy didn't reply.

"You know… ohhh! The docmixer guy!" she shrieked. Anna's ears pricked up.

"Docmixer?" she asked curiously.

"The online dating thing mom does," Emily replied flippantly. Anna snorted loudly and almost started choking as she tried her best to contain her laughter.

"_You_ do online dating?" she asked Cuddy, snickering loudly.

"Yes," Cuddy replied irritably, trying to retain _some_ form of dignity.

"Oh this is gold," Anna grinned, "just wait till I tell Uncle Jimmy.

"Do NOT tell him," Cuddy warned, her palms getting a little sweaty at the thought of her half-brother snickering at her, and threatening to tell House that she actually _did_ use online dating.

"It's just a date," she reasoned, trying to remain calm and casual.

"Yeah, but… online dating?" Anna asked, with a cringe.

"There is _nothing wrong_ with internet dating!" Cuddy defended, for what felt like the thousandth time. "I work long hours and don't usually have a chance to meet nice, eligible men. Thousands of people do it all the time."

"Usually thousands of fugly people," Anna smirked.

"Fugly?" Cuddy asked, eyebrow raised.

"It means extremely ugly," Emily explained, "it's a hybrid of fu -"

"Yeah alright, I get the picture," Cuddy said, quickly cutting her daughter off. "And he is not… _fugly_."

"How do you know, have you seen his picture?" Anna asked, smug look on her face.

Cuddy hesitated for a moment. "No, I haven't. But he doesn't _seem_ unattractive."

"Oh, come on, like you could tell. I bet he's a fatty," Anna said.

"He is _not_ a fatty! And even if he were, it wouldn't matter to me anyway. I'm not that shallow," Cuddy replied, trying to be mature about the situation, and focusing on the road.

"Oh he's a fatty," Anna smiled.

"He's a fatty," Emily concurred with a grin. Cuddy rolled her eyes and pulled into their driveway, relieved to be able to escape her meddling daughters' clutches.

00

_**A/N:** So there you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please take the time to review on your way out, it is much appreciated._

_Coming up next… Cuddy's date brings with it an unexpected surprise, and Emily getsa surprise of her own…_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

_**A/N: **Happy Australia day, one and all! Sure, most of you probably aren't Australian… but you should be! lol, jk. On this obscenely hot 40 degree day (translating to 104 Fahrenheit), I have decided to be kind, in the celebratory mood of the day, and post a new chapter! It's long, and you'll love it._

_Just as a random note, guess what I did the other day… had a House marathon! That's right, I dragged my mates over to my house, and we watched the entire first season. I find it necessary to say that in the first four or so episodes, House and Cuddy have the BEST banter of the entire season. A lot of flirting… I like, I like. But yes, I made a few converts out of that!_

_Reviews are always such a wonderful thing, so thankyou very much **GallopGirl**, **BookwormKiwi**, **prinnie**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy**, **QT Roo** (I have a feeling there was a problem with the review you posted, because all it was was ':) I'. So that was a bit strange), **Smiling4eva**, **cazness** (my newly converted House fan) and **Princess-Leasel**. You guys are spectacular! lol_

_Anyway, in case I haven't made this 100 percent clear, in my story Wilson is Cuddy's half-brother. More shall be explained on this particular history later._

_On with the story! It's a SUPER big almost triple chapter, so be excited. hehe_

00

Lisa sat at her desk, forehead resting in hand as the sun began to set behind her early Wednesday evening. Anna had insisted on taking her own car to the hospital, and her and Emily had consequentially left for home a good hour before Cuddy had even so much as glanced and the stack of paperwork that had accumulated on her desk. She was finally nearing the bottom of the pile, and the closer she got to the hard wood surface, the closer she was to being late for her date.

She wasn't really that keen on it in the first place, but the girls coming home had given her a chance to look at what she'd done over the past few months, and the blank her mind had drawn wasn't a good sign. Emily was right about one thing – Cuddy hadn't been on a date in months. But it wasn't her fault (of course). She had been so busy with the hospital – sign pay checks, follow up on a complaint against Dr House, meet with new benefactors, follow up on a complaint against Dr House, organise fundraisers, follow up on a complaint against Dr House. It was a rhythm that never allowed any time for personal matters, and she had been content with that for a fair amount of time.

It always seemed easier for Lisa to ignore the romantic section of her life that constantly remained unfulfilled. She had never had time to maintain a serious relationship, or a no-strings-attached one for that matter – she always managed to get herself in too deep somehow. She always found a new way to read too much into something, until she had over analysed to the point that it was totally necessary for her to end a relationship. She found herself overwhelmingly sensible and cautious, and this new lack of daring had kept her far away from any sort of physical relationship.

Of course, she hadn't always been that way. There was a time when she wouldn't think twice before jumping head first into a purely sexual relationship. Back then, however, it had been only about her, and _her_ needs, and a permanent emotional relationship was of no use or necessity to her. It wasn't long though until she had been thrown roughly into a life of responsibility, and suddenly something as frivolous and self-indulging as a physical relationship seemed stupid, and a far-off crazy idea that never held any weight. Her new found responsibility had effectively killed her wild carelessness and instead filled her with sensibility and a fear of loss of control. She didn't always like the new person she had become, but the thought of reverting to her old self seemed so absurd and detrimental that she clung onto the new elements of her life that she could control (and that wasn't easy).

Nothing had ever been easy. In the beginning, she had been so far from well-off that she had to constantly depend on her sister's help, and co-dependence was not something that the young, bold and independent Lisa Cuddy ever wanted to experience. She never wanted to get married or have children, that was her sister's life, and Lisa was content to just love her career; after all, that was what she was good at. Family had done her no good in the past, and she didn't see why it would in the future. But the minute that stick turned pink, she knew that things would never be the same again.

"_You're the one with the fantastic career ahead of you, let me be the one with the family!"_

She had always been focused on school work, and study. Her parents had expected her to be the rebellious, wild, uncontrollable child, but she had rebelled from that image in her own unique way – by being ambitious. Her sister, in her father's eyes, was the perfect daughter – her goal in life to get married, have children, and spend the rest of her life in the home, caring for her family. Lisa wanted to have a career and be successful – a thought that her father had been repulsed by. She never wanted to be the "trouble child" (as her father had once named her), she had wanted to be a better doctor than he had ever been able to achieve. But the stick was pink.

"_How could you ruin your sister's life like that? You've stolen what was rightfully hers! I always knew that playing doctors wasn't enough for you, you had to cause trouble and take what wasn't yours!"_

It took a long time for her to break away from the hardship her life had become. But somehow, she had pulled through and proved herself. Things still weren't right (things were never right), but she was doing the best she could. She had two daughters that loved her (well, one), and she had a job that would make her father's head explode (had she ever told him). There were still a million things that needed fixing, that she wasn't happy with, that prevented her from sleeping well at night, but she was getting somewhere.

She was broken out of her thoughts as her hand reached for a document and instead found the smoothness of the desk. She let out a deep, exhausted sigh and crossed her arms on the desk, resting her forehead tiredly on her forearms. She didn't want to go on this date tonight - there was too much swimming through her head – but Max was sweet, and she _did_ want to meet him, and see what would happen. It had been too long since she'd had a relationship.

She pulled herself out of her chair, exposed thighs peeling off the leather, and gently tidied her desk before reaching for her purse and coat and heading out the door, determined to rid herself of these detrimental thoughts and put on a good face for Max. She deserved tonight.

00

The car ride home had proved a good remedy for Cuddy's bad mood. She listened to her favourite radio show, which provided her with some good laughs and cheered her up a fair bit. She decided to embrace this evening, and look forward to the new venture it offered.

She opened the front door to have Emily come at her from the living room.

"Finally!" she sighed, quickly grabbing her mother's arm and pulling her down the hallway,

"Wha…" Cuddy protested, surprised by Emily's sudden appearance. "Where are we going?"

"I should have known you'd come home late," Emily tsked, pulling Cuddy into the master bedroom.

"What is going on?" Cuddy asked, trying to catch her breath from the tug down the hall, and dropping her handbag on the desk.

"Your date is in 45 minutes!" Emily cried, frustrated with Cuddy's lack of understanding. Upon receiving a blank look from her mother, she let out a loud groan.

"This is leaving us _very _limited time to get you ready," Emily continued, rushing to the wardrobe.

"Luckily," she continued, "I came in here earlier and cased out some of your better outfits."

"You're dressing me?" Cuddy asked, eyebrow raised and hand solidly resting on her hip.

"As if you could dress yourself for this," Emily said, like it was completely obvious, "you'd either end up going in one of your work outfits, something too casual, or something too dressy. You need my meticulous taste to help."

"Well someone certainly thinks highly of herself," Cuddy quipped.

"You're talking to a former prom queen here," Emily replied, holding out her arms to showcase herself. Cuddy sniggered.

"I _knew_ there was something I forgot to tease you about," she smirked.

"The fact of the matter is, we are rapidly running out of time to make you look hot for your date," Emily replied, laying three outfits out on the bed. Cuddy let out a defeated sigh, and looked at what Emily had picked out.

"Ok, so we have… classic, sexy little black dress – very Audrey Hepburn," Emily said, picking up the dress and holding it against herself. Cuddy tried not to look too exasperated, and took in the suggestion.

"This little blue dress, which I love," she continued, picking up the second dress, a knee-length 1920s style pale blue number, holding it up in front of her.

"Or this one, which is my favourite. It's fun, it's sexy, it has everything," she finished, holding the dress up affectionately, a knee length halter dress with a low back, printed in orange, green, brown and white, the design, a sort of unusual forest creation , seemingly inspired by the dope fogged atmosphere of the early 70s. Emily lay the dress out on the bed, and Cuddy thoughtfully studied all three.

"Well, not the blue one," she replied, taking off her work shoes and sitting on the bed.

"Okay, that's a start," Emily said, satisfied that her mother was making some progress, and putting the blue dress back in the wardrobe, "but may I gently remind you that there is now less than 40 minutes until you have to be _at_ the restaurant."

"Yes I know, I know," Cuddy dismissed, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. Unfortunately, her concentration was broken as Anna walked into the room, heavy textbook in hand.

"What is going on here?" she asked hesitantly, not quite sure she wanted to know.

"We are getting ready for mom's date," Emily smiled, "if she would hurry up and pick an outfit."

"I'm on it, Emily," Cuddy replied with aggravation. Anna padded over to the bed and hopped on, pulling herself up to the pillows, and setting her textbook upon her bent legs. Emily looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Perhaps you could lend some insight, Anna," she said, staring expectantly at her sister. Anna scoffed.

"You expect _me_ to have any idea about this sort of thing? That's generally your field of expertise, isn't it?" she replied, opening the textbook and starting to read.

"Well, we aren't making any progress," Emily sighed dramatically. Cuddy looked up, decision made.

"Let's go with the patterned one," she said, just wanting to get this over with.

"Yes, thankyou," Emily replied with relief, "now quickly, go shower in the putridly purple bathroom, and I'll find shoes, jewellery and a purse, and everything."

"The bathroom is not putrid," Cuddy reasoned, with a roll of her eyes.

"It's putrid," Anna confirmed, not looking up from her textbook.

"I've told you, I'm going to do it over as soon as I get the time," she replied, slipping off her work jacket and placing it on her chair.

"You've been saying that for five years," Anna commented.

"Come on, shower, shower," Emily rushed.

"Turn around," Cuddy replied, gesturing with her hand.

"What?" Emily said, confused.

"I don't want to leave my clothes in the bathroom with all the steam," Cuddy reasoned. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"I'm not undressing in front of you. Now turn around," she ordered, and Emily turned her back to her mother, arms crossed, and Anna turned on the bed, still engrossed in her textbook. Cuddy quickly undressed and slid into the bathroom, while the girls faced the wall as told.

"Ok, I'm good," Cuddy called from the bathroom, the door ajar and the fan now on. Emily turned around and returned to the wardrobe.

"Do you want flats, short heels or tall heels?" she called loudly as she heard the shower start running.

"Short heels," Cuddy called back from the shower, "I get enough of tall heels at work."

Emily pulled a simple pair of black heels out of the wardrobe, and placed them on the floor beside the bed, then picked up the black dress, hanging it back up in the wardrobe. Then suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she gasped.

"You're not washing your hair are you!" she called.

"Emily, I'm not stupid," Cuddy replied, "I have a shower cap." Emily chuckled at the visual. She went back to the bed and picked up the dress, inspecting it carefully.

"The back on this is pretty low," she called out.

"Yeah," Cuddy called back, "I'm probably gonna have to go braless."

Emily screwed up her nose, and Anna mirrored this action.

"You're my _mother_," Emily replied, "you are _not_ going braless." Cuddy rolled her eyes from inside the shower.

"Do you have a stick-on?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, it's in the draw," Cuddy called, and Emily made her way to her mother's underwear draw and tried her best to censor herself as she looked for the stick-on bra. She pulled it out and put it on the bed next to the dress, and Anna stared at it uncomfortably.

"Can you not have it so close to me please," she asked, leaning away from the bra.

"You're the one who chose to sit on the bed," Emily replied.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she added in a hushed whisper, "You don't even like mom."

"I couldn't pass up on a good night of humor, could I? Watching her trying not to be irritated by you micromanaging her preparation is priceless. Hmmm… micromanagement. Sounds familiar," she hinted, and Emily gave her a glare. Anna just grinned and turned her attention back to the textbook.

"Stop being such a party pooper," Emily scolded. "And give me back my InStyle magazine."

"What?" Anna replied, looking up.

"As if you could read a textbook like that in a room that wasn't completely silent," Emily said, rolling her eyes and holding out her hand. Anna reluctantly pulled out the magazine from between the pages of the textbook and put it in Emily's outstretched hand.

"How did you even know?" Anna asked, defeated.

"You were looking far too relaxed. You get that crinkly little face when you're studying, you know, with your brow furrowed…" Emily chucked. Anna crossed her arms and sulked, while Emily returned to the wardrobe to hunt for a purse. She heard the water in the shower shut off, and she grinned as she found what she was looking for.

"Perfect," she smiled, as she pulled out a small orange clutch, and threw it onto the bed from the short distance of the wardrobe. Just as she was shutting the wardrobe draws, Cuddy emerged from the bathroom, towel wrapped securely around her, and hair in a makeshift bun.

"I've got everything ready, except for underwear. I didn't want to delve any deeper into that drawer. And please… _do_ wear underwear," Emily said, an uncomfortable look on her face. Cuddy rolled her eyes and headed for her dresser.

"And I shall now take this as my cue to leave," Emily added, nodding emphatically. "Call me when you're dressed, cause we still have to do your makeup."

"I think I can handle doing my own makeup," Cuddy replied with a small eye roll.

"Well… fine. I suppose I can trust you to get that part right," Emily said, starting to back towards the door. Cuddy let out a small chuckle and smiled, shaking her head. Anna got up off the bed, and followed Emily out into the living room.

"Huh, and you think _I'm_ like her," Anna said quietly with a smirk, as they walked down the hallway. Emily rolled her eyes as Anna fake coughed and muttered "micromanage".

00

20 minutes later, Cuddy emerged into the living room, where Emily was sitting watching _News Radio_ on DVD. Emily swivelled around in her seat as she heard her mother approaching, and upon seeing her, clutched her heart and started fake crying.

"Oh, my little girl's growing up," she cried, as Cuddy rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"_I'm_ the mother," she replied dryly, and Emily ignored her.

"Now I know why all the boys in high school used to cry 'MILF… MILF… MILF…'," she continued, pretending to burst into hysterical 'motherly' tears. Cuddy shook her head with a sigh, and Emily stopped her fake crying and instead grinned widely.

"Do you approve?" Cuddy asked, eyebrows raised. Emily stood up and inspected her mother.

"Can I just… one thing," she said, walking over to her, and changing Cuddy's middle part so that her hair was parted on the side. She smoothed down the curls and took a step back, admiring her work.

"Perfect," she smiled. "You look beautiful, mom."

"Thanks," Cuddy replied, and Emily wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

"Now," Emily said, pulling out of the embrace, "curfew is midnight…"

Cuddy rolled her eyes, and shook her head with a laugh.

"And I don't want you going out and getting… 'baked', as the kids call it these days. No drinking, no smoking, no laughing, no smiling, and _certainly_ no holding hands. And if he tries to give you his pin, you must graciously decline," Emily said sternly. Cuddy smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be home by eleven. No wild parties while I'm gone," she said, opening the front door.

"The keg's getting here at nine," Emily smiled, following her mother to the door and holding it open for her.

"Say bye to Anna for me," Cuddy laughed, walking out to her car.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Emily called after her.

"That doesn't leave much!" Cuddy called back, opening her car door and sliding inside.

00

_**A/N:** Ok… so I lied last chapter. She hasn't got to the date yet. But the 'getting ready' scene went for longer than I anticipated! She will DEFINITELY be on the date next chapter. Hehe! Please take the time to review on your way out._

_Coming up next... Cuddy begins to worry when her date is a little late, and Anna finds herself having to cover for Emily…_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

_**A/N: **FINALLY the new chapter arrives! It's been sitting around on my computer almost all week… but I got suspended from ffnet (can you BELIEVE) cos I had a songfic with lyrics in it… it was probably some HouseCam lover that ratted me out… pssssh! lol! But nah, I have now removed all my songfics so it won't be an issue anymore!_

_Anyway, I'm now back at school (final year, wooo0p!), so no doubt there won't be too much time for fic. But then again, I say that every year, and every year I still write and read heaps._

_Reviewers! I love you! I have secret, sordid little love affairs with your words. **Smiling4eva**, **GallopGirl**, **TNIIT**, **cazness**, **QT Roo**, **Princess-Leasel** and **Prinnie**, you are CHAMPIONS! And I never realised how many of my reviewer were Australian before… so there you go!_

_Now, just for a quick disclaimer, there are a few bits in here that are from You've Got Mail, so, I **DO NOT OWN YOU'VE GOT MAIL**. Dang, I wish I did though! Love that film… I'm sure there will be some more references to it later in the fic as well. Anyway… for now, READ and review… lol_

00

Cuddy took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she backed out of her driveway. Despite herself, she was exceedingly nervous about this date, as she hadn't been on one in months. Sure, she'd talked to Max a bit, on the phone and via email, but she still felt like she was meeting someone completely new. Of course, not one to be hypocritical, Lisa had posted a photo of herself on the website, but had taken it down a few days later after receiving a number of highly explicit emails, and a comment from her long time friend, Susan, stating that it looked very "anonymous sex", as it was a full length photo taken at the beach, and Lisa had been wearing a large hat at the time that shadowed most of her face. So, consequentially, neither Max or Lisa knew what each other looked like. They had agreed that Lisa would have a book and a red rose on the edge of her table (very 'You've Got Mail', which Lisa was pleased with), and Max would carry a copy of the same book, so that they would be able to recognise each other. Naturally, Cuddy had withheld this little tidbit of information from her daughters, for if she had told them, relentless mocking would have ensued.

As she quickly pulled out into the street, a pair of headlights came speeding from the right, and both cars had to screech on the brakes to stop from colliding. Cuddy immediately pushed her palm hard on the horn, with a loud "what the hell!" and the other driver honked rudely in response. Cuddy gave an aggravated sigh and quickly drove off in the other direction.

00

Chase drove down the street, trying to concentrate on driving on the correct side of the road. No matter how long he lived in the states, he would never get used to driving on the right hand side. He tried to look at the numbers on the houses without slowing down, and before he knew it, a car pulled out of a driveway, and he had to slam on the breaks to stop from hitting it. The other driver honked their horn loudly, and Chase honked back just a ferociously, shouting "watch where you're going!" It was just after he'd yelled this that he noticed the number on the letterbox – 925 – and the car that he'd almost ran into. That house, and that car, belonged to Dr Lisa Cuddy.

"Shit!" he cursed, trying to hide his face as Cuddy drove away in the other direction. He waited for her to disappear around the corner before he finally took a breath and pulled nervously into Cuddy's driveway.

00

Emily closed the front door behind her and let out a sigh. Anna emerged down the hallway.

"Thank god, I thought she would never leave," Emily sighed. Anna raised an eyebrow.

"Why are _you_ relieved that she's gone? Isn't that my job?" Anna asked.

"Gnah, Rob is gonna be here any second," Emily ranted, quickly rushing past Anna, down the hallway and into her bedroom.

"Excuse me?" Anna said, disbelievingly, following Emily and standing in the doorway as she rushed around her room, throwing off her pink t-shirt and pulling on a white crochet tank top and a denim waistcoat, keeping her black short shorts on.

"There is a _guy_ coming here?" Anna asked, arms crossed angrily.

"No, not coming _here_, he's picking me up," Emily replied, hurriedly doing her hair in the mirror. Before Anna had a chance to reply, the doorbell rang.

"That would be him," Anna said in a deadpan voice. Emily turned to Anna and gave her the puppy dog eyes.

"Could you get that? Please? I'm not quite ready," Emily begged. Anna huffed and turned out of the room, heading to the front door. As soon as she opened the door she recognised that wavy haired doctor.

"Are you _serious_!" Anna shouted at Emily, although she was still facing Chase. Chase flinched in surprise at this sudden outburst.

"Hi, I'm Rob Chase, you must be Anna," he said politely, once he had recovered.

"Yeah," she replied dismissively.

"You're a doctor at the hospital. This is great, oh this is just fantastic!" she added sarcastically. Chase looked at her strangely, missing the point.

"Mom is going to _murder_ you!" she shouted, once again at Emily, taking Chase by surprise. Emily quickly rushed down the hallway to calm Anna, almost tripping over her the long ties of her sandals that she was trying to do up as she walked.

"Hi," Emily smiled to Chase, briefly ignoring Anna.

"Hi," he smiled back, and Anna rolled her eyes and almost gagged at the sappiness of their smiles.

"This is sickening. And _wrong_," Anna said pointedly. Emily huffed slightly and gave an apologetic look to Chase.

"Can you excuse us for just a minute?" Emily asked, grabbing Anna by the arm and dragging her out of the room. Chase nodded in compliance as the two girls went quickly out of sight.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Anna said, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Anna, it is not a big deal -"

"Pssh!" Anna spat, "This is probably the worst idea you've ever had."

"He's sweet, he's funny, he's a nice guy. Let him be," she reasoned.

"He is a doctor at the hospital. He is mom's _employee_," Anna said as if she were speaking to a child.

"I've never heard you say the word 'mom' so many times in the space of a minute," Emily quipped.

"You're changing the subject. _Of course_ you are changing the subject," Anna said dramatically. Emily scoffed.

"I'm supposed to be the dramatic one," she replied, eyebrow raised.

"Emily, this is not a good idea," Anna said rationally. "Mom is going to have a hernia when she finds out."

"That's why she's not going to find out," Emily hissed.

"What, you want me to keep this a secret?" Anna asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes. _Please_," Emily begged. Anna took a moment to mull, arms still crossed defiantly.

"Fine," she caved. Emily broke out into a huge grin and kissed her sister on the cheek, who recoiled at the unnecessary show of affection.

"Thankyou," she sing-songed, and rushed out of the room calling "don't wait up!"

00

Cuddy sat at the table, nervously jiggling her leg. She picked up her phone and checked the clock on the display again. _8:20pm_. He was already 20 minutes late. She didn't know how long to wait for, she had already deflected three waiters that tried to take her order. She looked tensely across the room and spotted two waiters talking to each other by the kitchen door. They were facing each other, but intermittingly taking a glance at her. She figured they were probably betting on what time her date would show up, if at all. She could just imagine them all in the kitchen, laughing as they placed bets on her life. Thriving on her misfortune.

A large group were seated at a table nearby, and looked bewildered when there didn't seem to be enough chairs for their party. A younger man headed over to Lisa's table and asked "is this seat taken?", and when she replied "oh yes, I'm expecting someone" he didn't seem to buy it one bit, heading back to his group.

She spotted someone arriving out of the corner of her eye, and looked up hopefully. But it was _not_ who she had wanted or expected to see. There stood Greg House, scanning the restaurant, obviously looking for someone. Cuddy quickly grabbed the book resting on the edge of her table and buried her face in it, covering her face with her hand and pretending to be knee deep in the book.

"Lisa Cuddy," Greg's voice called from in front of her. "Hello! What a coincidence. Mind if I sit down?" Cuddy looked up and closed the book.

"Yes I do. I'm expecting someone," she replied, trying to remain cool, although her heart was beating at a million miles an hour. This unexpected turn of events did _not_ help her nerves. What if Max came and saw her talking to House? Things could not turn out well.

Despite her protests, however, House sat down carelessly and rested his cane on the chair. He picked up her book before she had a chance to snatch it back from him. He scoffed as he saw the title.

"The Da Vinci Code? Oh Cuddy, Cuddy, I didn't see you as the cliché novel type of girl," he smirked.

She quickly snatched the book back from him, "do you mind?" and put it out of his reach.

"So who are you meeting? Someone you met on the internet, no doubt, knowing your J-Date record," House replied, leaning back casually.

"Would you please leave?" Cuddy asked, trying to remain civil and pleasant in the public restaurant.

"I'll get up as soon as your friend comes. Is he late?" House whispered in mock-surprise, making a point of looking at his watch.

"As it happens, it is none of your business who I am meeting, or where I met the person I am meeting. And why are _you_ here, anyway?" Cuddy asked, slighting indignantly.

"I always cruise the restaurants on Wednesdays, it's when I get my upset rejected girls, just naïve enough to go for some hot sex with an older man," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Cuddy gave a disgusted look and let out a sigh.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, getting frustrated at the fact that the minutes were creeping on, and Max could arrive at any moment. House ignored the comment and reached for the red rose, sitting on the edge of the table. He put it between his mouth and nose and twirled it carelessly. Cuddy gave an aggravated sigh.

"It's a joke to you, isn't it. Everything's a joke to you," she spat. House just smiled and continued twirling the rose.

"How did you even know I was here, anyway?" she asked, folding her arms defensively on the table.

"News spreads around that hospital awfully fast, Dr Cuddy. Especially when your daughters can't keep their mouths shut," he replied, and Cuddy finally snatched the rose out of his grasp, putting it in the book, safely out of House's grasp.

"What, so you thought you'd just come and gatecrash my date?" she asked angrily.

"Oh so it _is_ a date? I thought it was a simple dinner with a friend," House replied innocently.

"And these daughters of yours," he continued, "such mystery, such anonymity. Tell me, Dr Cuddy, why the shameful secrecy all these years?"

"It's none of your business. My professional and my personal life are separate, and I'll thank you not to cross over into my personal life," Cuddy replied bitingly.

"You didn't seem to mind it 20 years ago. As I recall you _loved_ having me in your personal life," House said cockily.

"That was a long time ago. Things change, people change. I'm a different person House, I have responsibilities," Cuddy replied, her cheeks flushing slightly as she recalled that month where she spent almost every waking and sleeping moment with Greg House.

"Hmmm, indeed you do. You're now the witchy old administrator," House said, scrunching up his face and putting on a voice as if he were telling a fairytale to a child, "putting curses on all simple doctors who dare pass her. Of course, fun is not allowed in her world!"

Cuddy sighed as House indulged himself. "Her two offspring damned to the confides of their home, never to grace the great castle's halls…"

"Are you quite done?" Cuddy asked with her eyebrow raised.

"I just wonder what it is that they've done that makes you so ashamed of them," House replied, leaning forward across the table.

"I'm not ashamed of my daughters," Cuddy said angrily.

"Then why did _no one _know about them until they magically appeared at the hospital just over a week ago?" House continued.

"Because it wasn't important," Cuddy spilled out quickly. House was silent for a moment, raising his eyebrows.

"Your kids aren't important to you?" he asked.

"No, that's not what I meant," Cuddy reasoned with frustration, shaking her head, "they had nothing to do with the hospital, and they needn't have at all if Emily hadn't just _shown up_ out of the blue…"

"All this secrecy, Cuddy," House said with a dramatic sigh, "surely points to something even more sordid… some deep dark secret you've been keeping hidden… who knows what else there is to know about you! Just who is Lisa Cuddy?"

He ploughed into her eyes, searching for some sort on answer to his question. He leaned across the table, his face unintentionally close to hers, only centimetres apart. She chewed her lip as he stared her out, his ice blue eyes wide with curiosity. As he lingered so close to her, she couldn't help but remember that month back in college, where more often than not he would be this close to her – if not closer. They spent weeks tangled up in bed together, the bliss of their relationship seeming never ending. But as it happens, that bliss came to an abrupt end.

"Please leave. I beg you," she said in a quivering voice. House nodded, sat back into his chair, grabbed his cane and stood up, walking from the table and sitting down again at the very next table, his back to her. Cuddy reached into her purse, pulling out her compact. She opened it and looked into the mirror, pretending to inspect her lipstick, then sliding it slightly to look behind her. He looked sideways at her, and she turned away suddenly, quickly shutting the compact closed.

"Lisa Cuddy, were you spying on me?" House asked playfully.

"No," she replied in annoyance, trying to ignore him.

"You know, at this rate he's probably not even going to show. You see those waiters over there?" he asked, pointing to the same two waiters who Cuddy had seen earlier, "I bet you anything they've got a pool going on whether or not your guy's going to show up. I mean, a woman of your age -"

"Shut up House," Cuddy replied angrily. Her attention immediately turned to a man walking in the restaurant, but as she looked she noticed he had to be at least 70 years old, and he smiled as he headed over to a woman seated a few tables away of the same age.

"I am going to take a wild guess that that isn't him, either. Who is he, I wonder? Will you been mean to him too? Will you start out as sweet as sugar candy and then suddenly, miraculously, like a bolt from the blue, find that sharp little tongue of yours? Or will you just pop out the funbags as an opener?" House teased.

"No I won't," Cuddy replied defensively, "because the man who is coming here tonight is nothing like you. He isn't surly, rude or inexplicably cruel. He doesn't take pleasure in making everyone else miserable, or stick himself into other people's personal lives where he isn't welcome. Completely unlike you, he is kind and funny, he is wonderfully considerate -"

"But he's not here. He's left you waiting, like some sad sack middle-aged spinster -"

"That is _enough_," Cuddy spat, feeling a lump rise in her throat. She hated that Greg House was doing this, and was getting to her like this.

"I don't know what it is you get off on, but I am certainly not going to put up with it anymore. I've had enough of your rudeness and your insensitivity," she said, picking up her purse, her voice faltering at the oncoming tears she was trying her best to fight back. "Goodbye Greg." And with that she stood up, and walked quickly out of the restaurant, almost whacking straight into a man coming in the door.

Greg got up and moved to sit in the chair Cuddy had vacated. That was when he noticed the book and rose she had accidentally left behind in her rush, and he picked it up, placing the rose on the table and opening up the book, deciding to see what all the fuss was about. He was snapped out of his reading only a few moments later however, by a male voice.

"Are you… Dr Lisa Cuddy?" he asked, confusion in his voice. He stood tall at the table, his devastatingly handsome physique emphasised by the warm lighting. Man, Cuddy was going to be pissed she missed this one.

"You must be Max," House replied, with a warm smile.

"I thought… I thought Lisa Cuddy was a woman," Max said, perplexed, and a little frightened. House paused for a moment before answering.

"I am."

00

_**A/N:** hehe oh House, you make me laugh! Anyway, thanks for reading… please be sure to review on your way our._

_Coming up next… Cuddy arrives home early to find only Anna there, and Emily and Chase's date comes with an unexpected ending…_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

_**A/N: **:o! 11 reviews! I love you! If it was legal to marry all of you, then I WOULD! Shame this country supports monogamy. lol! So my uncontrollable love (and quite frankly, a little lust) goes out to **cazness** (my Lena!), **BookwormKiwi**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy**, **Chromo26**, **TNIIT**, **Smiling4eva**, **QT Roo**, **prinnie **(my kindred spirit), **Princess-Leasel** and **bostonfan**. By the sound of things you all loved House's final line! hehehe I'm glad it went down so well._

_Anyway, I know this chap has been a long time coming, and I hope it doesn't let you down! Where it lacks the humour of the previous chapter in makes up for in dramaticness (well… near the end anyway). It's starting to get juicy!_

_Enjoy, and make sure to review!_

00

Emily smiled as Chase held open the passenger side door, and she slid into the car. Chase quickly moved around the vehicle and got in his side, slipping the keys into the ignition and starting the car.

"So what do you have planned for us this wonderful evening, Dr Chase?" Emily asked with a playful smile, buckling her seatbelt. Chase mirrored this action and returned a devious smile.

"Well," he teased, "there's this pub I know, just off campus, and there's a fantastic little known band playing there tonight."

"Oh really? Who?"

"Gismo," he replied, keeping his eyes on the road as they drove.

"Can't say I've heard of them before," Emily smiled, knowing where this was going. "And which member of the band are you friends with?"

Chase chuckled and shook his head, as his ploy was uncovered. "Lead guitarist and vocalist."

"Oh well in that case, I can't guarantee that I won't be going home with someone else…" Emily teased.

They arrived at the pub a mere 5 minutes later, after a car ride of flirty banter and comfortable silences. Chase, ever the gentlemen, opened the car door for her, and subsequently the pub door.

"Oh thank god," Emily said, as she looked around to see everyone reasonably casually dressed, "I was worried I was going to be underdressed."

"You look beautiful," Chase complimented, lightly placing his hand on the small of her back as he guided her through the door, "but you always look beautiful. Candy striper outfit or otherwise."

Emily blushed slightly and playfully slapped him on the shoulder. Not 10 minutes in, and the evening was already turning out well.

After saying a brief hello to Chase's old friend while the band was setting up, Emily and Chase grabbed a table, and had a light dinner. Emily was careful not to drink too much, as, like her mother, alcohol tended to affect her a lot more than the average person. They chatted about everything – from TV, to Emily's love of the Bangles which Chase's younger sister shared, to childhood anecdotes, to a heated debate about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Needless to say, Emily was on Jen's side.

The band was surprisingly good, and Chase was inwardly praising himself for making the right choice about where to go for dinner. Halfway through the band's final set, Emily insisted on trying to get a moshpit going, so, having dragged Chase up to join her, they both made complete utter fools of themselves, especially when Emily started trying to get strangers to join them.

They both laughed and applauded loudly when the band finished for the night. Chase wrapped his arm around Emily's waist and pulled her close to his side while they waited to say bye to Chase's friend – a move that Chase had insisted on, as he secretly wanted to show her off to his mate.

"Mikey, great show mate," Chase said as his dark-haired, tall lanky friend Mike approached them, guitar case in hand.

"If I were a label guy I would sign you," Emily added.

"Well, if only you were, my dear lady," Mike replied, giving Emily a reasonably flirtatious smile. Chase's grip around Emily tightened slightly.

"The last set was especially good," Chase commented.

"Ah yes, I could see you were enjoying it by the large amount of senior citizens being pulled up to dance by this fair maiden," Mike replied, continuing to flirt shamelessly with Emily. She laughed and slapped him on the shoulder playfully, toying with that green monster in Chase.

"Now, now," Emily mock-scolded, "don't go making little Rob jealous! He can't loose me on the first date."

Chase reddened a little, and Mike gave a knowing smirk.

"Well in that case, I better let you two love birds go. I've gotta go debrief with the band anyway," he said, giving Chase a friendly tap on the arm, and flashing Emily another smile before heading back to his band.

"So, it's still early," Emily said, once Mike was out of earshot, "I think I know a fun little place we could go."

"Should I be worried?" Chase asked cautiously as he saw a devious grin appear on Emily's face.

"Very."

00

Cuddy sat in her dark car, pulled over on the side of a road not too far away from her home, her head leaning back against the headrest. As she had driven away from the restaurant the lump in her throat had only gotten bigger, and the few stray tears that had started falling were enough to blur her vision and force her to pull over before she had an accident. The ignition had not been off for one second before she had burst into tears. She wasn't usually the crying type; in fact, she couldn't remember having cried in years.

She hated House, she hated that he could get to her and that he always found a way of making every aspect of her life miserable. She felt like a fool, pulling over to cry, but all these months, even years of pent up frustration, anger and guilt had finally taken their toll, and she had to let it all out. She was angry about House, she was angry about Anna, she was angry about the two worlds she had kept separate for so long just suddenly crashing together, and splaying fragments everywhere. She was angry with herself for getting her hopes up about this date, and thinking she could have any semblance of a romantic relationship with a man. He didn't show, and she was left with House, bitter and cruel as always. She could usually brush off his insensitive jabs and comments, but he had caught her at such a vulnerable moment that suddenly those remarks didn't just roll off her shoulders. This time they stung.

So she sat hunched over in her car, forehead resting on the steering wheel as her chest lurched with each sob. She tried her best to cry quietly, but she was never good at stopping the deep sobs once they had started. She felt as if she had swallowed a whole orange, and it was lodged in her throat, forcing itself up and down with each banished breath. This process continued for quite a while, and as much as she tried to make herself stop, as soon as she had slightly calmed, a new onslaught would appear. She berated herself for acting like a 14 year old girl who just found out the guy she likes doesn't like her back. She was sure she looked a right fool, slumped over in her car, and was glad that there weren't too many cars on the road.

No sooner had she thought this than she heard a distinct knock on her window. Her sobs immediately ceased as she contemplated the dread of looking up into the face of whoever had caught her in such a horrid state. She quickly tried to wipe under her eyes whilst her head was still down, reduce the panda eyes, before flicking her head up quickly, pretending to be completely okay. As she turned to the window she faced a reasonably young dark haired male police officer, peering in through her window with concern. She gave a smile before pressing the button to wind the window down.

"Everything alright in here ma'am?" he asked.

"Everything's fine, it's fine," she replied, trying her best to keep a smiling front as she fought off the sniffles. The policeman then gave her a look, investigating her features.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked, searching her face.

"No, no I'm pretty sure you don't," she replied, trying her best to avoid eye contact.

"No wait, you're the head of that hospital! The Princeton Teaching one! I heard your lecture once, back when I was in med-school. That fell through for me, obviously," he said with a smile and a small chuckle. Cuddy forced a smile in reply.

"Dr Cuddy, right?" he asked, obviously thrilled that he knew who she was.

"That's me," she replied with dread, willing this situation to just go away.

"Hey Tony!" the officer called back to his colleague, who was waiting in the police car, "it's Dr Cuddy! You know, the head of the Princeton Teaching Hospital!"

"My partner Tony was in med-school too," the officer added, turning back to Cuddy, "but he never heard your lecture. Looks like they paired up the med-school drop outs, huh?"

Cuddy forced a smile, "looks that way…"

"But, ah," he added, his face turning back to one of concern, "are you alright? It looked like you were crying in there just before."

"No, no," Cuddy deflected, "I was… having an allergic reaction. To this new car air freshener I bought. My eyes were streaming, I had to pull over."

"Oh. Well okay then," he replied, not looking entirely convinced.

"I'm officer Mark Jacobs, by the way," he said, offering his hand for Cuddy to shake. She painfully obliged him and he gave a smile before saying "enjoy the rest of your evening," and heading back to his police car. Cuddy put the window up and immediately dropped her head to the steering wheel in complete embarrassment.

00

Cuddy opened the front door, fully preparing herself for Emily's onslaught. Surely there would be hell to pay for coming home from her date early. She dropped her purse and car keys onto the dining room table, and was surprised when no one came rushing down the hallway. _She mustn't have heard me come in_. She started making her way down the hall, but still no one came out to greet her. As much as she was glad that she wouldn't be getting an interrogation right now, she was also a little hurt that Emily hadn't cared to come see how it went. Cuddy passed Anna's bedroom, the door slightly ajar, and turned back, knocking on it lightly. Anna was sitting on her beanbag in the corner, headphones on, listening to her record player and reading the jacket of a large, previously loved vinyl cover. Anna looked up when she noticed Cuddy's figure in the doorway.

"Hey," she said, a little more timidly than she had hoped.

"You're home early," Anna pointed out, only uncovering one ear.

"Well… it didn't go exactly as I had planned," Cuddy replied.

"Oh," Anna said, noticing the smudged mascara under her mother's red eyes and deducing that things really didn't go well at all.

"He was… unavoidably detained," Cuddy reasoned awkwardly.

"He stood you up?" Anna replied, suddenly feeling horrible for wanting to smirk. Cuddy rolled her eyes at her daughter's choice of words, and changed the subject.

"Umm, where's Emily?" she asked, trying to remain casual and hide the fact that she'd been crying, "I expected her to launch herself at me the moment I stepped in the door."

"She's ah…" Anna fumbled, "… at Bettina's."

"Bettina's? Is she back from 80s school already?" Cuddy replied, a little confused as she recalled Emily telling her that Bettina wasn't getting back from college for a few days. She studied 20th century history, but only paid attention to classes on the 1980s.

"Apparently so," Anna lied.

"Oh. What time is she getting back?" Cuddy asked, shifting her weight to the other foot, and leaning slightly on the doorframe, awkwardly wetting her dry lips.

"I wouldn't wait up," Anna replied, looking away from Cuddy and putting her headphones back on properly, expecting her mother to leave. Instead, Cuddy pushed the door open the rest of the way and wandered into the room, sitting herself down on the bed opposite Anna and her beanbag. Anna looked up from the record cover suspiciously. She could sense things weren't going to end well for her.

"So, um, what are you listening to?" Cuddy asked, trying to make some casual conversation, but instead making things even more awkward.

"The Free Design," Anna replied, still able to hear her mother over the soft harmonies.

"Oh," Cuddy answered, obviously not knowing who they are.

"Late 60s family band," Anna added, sensing the need for clarification. "I got it second hand today." Cuddy nodded awkwardly, and they sat quietly for a moment before Anna let out a small aggravated sigh.

"You know you don't have to pretend to care about my music. You can just go to bed or whatever," Anna said, putting the record cover down next to her and crossing her arms. Cuddy huffed irately.

"I'm not _pretending_ to care about anything," she reasoned. Anna scoffed.

"I'm enjoying this small talk just as much as you are. And by the looks of things, it's not that much," Anna replied, making a point of turning up the volume dial on the vinyl player. Cuddy squared her jaw and stood up, deliberately smoothing down her dress. She strode purposefully across the room – the two steps that it took – and quickly pulled the headphones cleaning off Anna's head, who had intentionally ignored her since turning up the volume.

"Hey!' Anna gasped.

"When did it ever become okay for you to give me this attitude?" Cuddy said unsympathetically, standing tall in front of her seated daughter.

"When it became okay for you to drive family members away," Anna combated. Cuddy's face contorted with anger at this comment, and her cheeks flushed red in rage.

"I did _not_ drive Linda away!" Cuddy spat.

"Oh really? Then why the hell did she move to Boston! It certainly wasn't to get away from all the college kids!" Anna yelled back, standing up with a snap, arms rigid beside her.

"They moved for Ted's job, you _know_ that," Cuddy tried to reason, shaking her head with anger, clenching and unclenching her fists in a failing effort to stay calm.

"Sure, and the fact that you two were fighting had absolutely _nothing_ to do with it!" Anna spat, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You have _no _idea what you're talking about!" Cuddy yelled, pointing her finger aggressively, and that vein in her forehead starting to pulsate. It was at that moment that the shrill ringing of the phone broke their argument. Neither woman moved, both stubbornly staring each other out, blue to blue, Cuddy's heels making her the same height as her daughter. The phone rang three more times before Cuddy finally broke, and strode out of the room, heading for the receiver. Anna was left standing, chest heaving up and down in aggravated breaths, as she contemplated the pain her mother had caused her in the past.

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_**A/N:** Well, there you go! Don't forget to review on your way out._

_Coming up next… Emily and Chase's date continues, and Cuddy makes an unexpected phone call…_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

_**A/N: **FINALLY! It has been an eternity, but FINALLY I have finished a new chapter. I think its been a whole month. Torzi, torzi, torzi. Year 12 has been running me amuck, plus the musical… too much! And, I have tenosynovitis in my right hand… oh YAY. A very appropriate ailment for me, too, because it's basically RSI from too much typing and computer solitaire. How entirely appropriate. So right now I have a splint on my hand… so typing is a bit of a struggle. Nonetheless, I have fought tooth and nail to get this chapter to you! And now, the kudos:_

_**GallopGirl** (always the first to review, you CHAMPION), **cazness**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy**, **bostonfan**, **QT Roo**, **FriendsHolic**, **Chromo26**, **prinnie**, **moo333**, I just love you all! There is nothing better than a loyal reviewer, so my hat goes off to all of you!_

_And now, on with the story. _

00

Emily pulled Chase's car up into a gravel parking lot, the bright spinning lights ahead a contrast to the dark night. As he realised where she had taken him, he turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You've taken me to a carnival?" he asked, a little surprised.

"Correction: an all-night carnival!" she replied with a wide grin, turning off the car and unbuckling her seatbelt. They both opened their doors respectively and stepped out of the car, Chase still a little sceptical. Emily, noticing his hesitation, rolled her eyes.

"Oh please," she said, "lighten up. Carnival's aren't _just_ for children, you know."

Chase took a deep breath to prepare himself, and walked around to Emily's side of the car, grabbing her hand and leading her off in the direction the music and flashing lights.

"Alright, let's do it. I'm gonna win you a teddy bear," he said with a flashing grin.

An hour and a half later, Chase was clutching an enormous toy panda that Emily had won for him, after his efforts to win a prize for her had failed. Even at the bottle toss, a game that Chase was sure he could master ("Oh don't worry, this one will be a synch. I was the pitcher in my high school softball team"), he wasn't even able to muster a measly 2 point toy. Emily then proceeded to make up for his unmanly errors by getting every single ball directly into the clown's mouth at the next stand.

Chase was waiting in line for cotton candy when Emily spotted it. She had seen it at several points throughout the night, but now was just the right time. She gave a smile, and walked the few steps to Chase, gently tugging on his sleeve.

"Rob," she said in a whispery smile, "forget the cotton candy. I've got a better idea." Chase turned to see where she was looking at, and his gaze hit the giant ferris wheel, about 50 metres away from them. Emily hugged the panda she held whilst Chase was in line tightly, and let out a tiny excited little sigh.

"What, the ferris wheel?" Chase questioned, surprised at Emily's level of excitement for a ride as mundane as a ferris wheel. He saw her as more of the upside down and around seven times rollercoaster kind of girl. She nodded, and slid her hand down his arm to grab his hand.

"Come on," she smiled, trying to tug him out of line.

"Hang on, I'm almost at the front of the line," Chase reasoned, "it's just the ferris wheel, it can wait for a minute."

"_Just_ the ferris wheel? The ferris wheel is only the best part of the entire carnival! You get the perfect view of everything, and it moves at just the right speed, and the breeze is always not too strong, not too flat…" she trailed off, her voice dreamy. Sensing how important this ride was to her, he decided to give up the spot in line that he had been so patiently waiting for, and let her pull him towards the enormous wheel. As they approached it, Emily's free hand still grasped tightly around Chase's. The line was short, so they were only standing there for a minute or so before it was their turn.

"Do you want me to hang onto that for you miss?" the man that ran the ride asked, gesturing to the giant panda Emily was clutching absently.

"Oh, yes, thankyou," she said, handing the panda to the kinda man before she and Chase sat down in the slightly rickety chair of the ride. Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and took in a short excited breath as the ride began to move. They were silent for a moment, each settling into the motion of the wheel, before Chase spoke.

"So what's so special about the ferris wheel?" he asked, "I didn't picture it as your favourite ride." Emily constant small smile broke into a grin, and she glanced over at him.

"Well, me and good 'ole ferris go way back. When I was little, about five, maybe six, on the rare occasion that mom wasn't at school or working, she'd take us to a carnival. I don't really remember much about it, but I do remember that we would always all squash together on the ferris wheel, me and Anna on either side of mom. Anna got a little scared of the height at times, but I didn't mind at all. Mom would point out the things we could see around town as we got higher, and tell us stories about those places that made us laugh. Then, when we got to the top, she would kiss us each on the cheek, and tell us how brave we were for making it all the way to the top," Emily explained, her voice filled with memories of past delight. "Those were always our happiest times with mom." Chase pondered for a moment this reminiscence of Emily's, and somehow found it difficult to picture such an affectionate and openly loving Cuddy.

Emily sighed then, as her present reality hit. "Of course, things aren't like that anymore."

They sat in silence, both mulling over what had been said, when the wheel came to a stop, Emily and Chase directly at the top. Emily smiled as the full expanse of the lights of the town hit her. Laid in front of her were the small lights of Princeton, the town she called home. She had never been one to admire lush country views, but give her the lights of a city or town, and she was blown away. She felt Chase's hand slip into hers, and she suddenly felt 13, out with the boy she had a crush on. Well, this was definitely more than some pre-pubescent crush. She turned her head to look at him, his waves of hair blowing softly in the breeze, and all of a sudden this moment was perfect. He too turned to see her, and tucked a fly away hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek.

"Would it be entirely cliché if I kissed you right now?" he asked.

"Yes," Emily replied, inching her face closer to is, "but I like cliché."

00

Cuddy walked slowly into her bedroom, having finally rid of the telemarketer that had interrupted her and Anna's fight. She sighed and slid out of her shoes, that heavy feeling in her head and chest. Walking past her CD player, she pressed play on her 'Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon' CD, and moved towards her bed as the soft trumpet sounds of Woody Shaw filled the room. She had to relax somehow, and blocking out the sounds of the house tended to help a lot. She lay down, still in her dress from the date, and closed her eyes. Turning on her side, she tried to rid her mind of the thousands of thoughts running through it. She remembered, in high school, her drama teacher would always get the class to lay on their backs and close their eyes, and imagine a 'worry tree', where they would pin all there troubles before entering a new world. She wished Ms Benis was here to help her now, and wished that she had imagined a bigger tree.

She tried her best to just listen to the music, absorbing it, rather than her own problems. And even though the sounds of the soft jazz weren't sad ones, and she had cleared her mind of all other thoughts, slow tears ran down her face. Cathartic tears, she hoped, that would somehow make things easier when she finally had to face them.

Anna, in turn, sat in her room, just staring out into nothingness. She hadn't gone back to her music once her mother had left, instead just sat back down on the beanbag and stewed. There was no way she was going to apologize. As far as she was concerned, she'd done nothing wrong. Cuddy had brought all of this upon herself. But if it wasn't her fault then why did she feel so horrible? She hated that her mother could always make her feel so guilty without even trying. Then again, Anna always felt guilty.

She knew Cuddy had been crying, she could see the redness in her eyes, yet she had snapped at her anyway, and brought up Linda. _Way to kick her when she's down, Anna_. Surely it wasn't just the dodgy date that made her upset, there had to be something else. So Anna made an impulsive decision. She stood up and quietly made her way to her mother's bedroom. She just wanted to make sure she was okay and hadn't tried to top herself or anything. With that thought a shiver ran through Anna, as she realized, that despite her talk to the contrary, she would be devastated if anything ever happen to her mom.

She reached the door, and could hear smooth jazz sounds playing reasonably loudly inside. She recognized the music to be that from a CD that Jimmy had bought Cuddy for her last birthday, in an attempt to 'de-stress' her. Anna was yet to see any changes in her mother's stress levels.

She slowly pushed the door open a fraction, forgetting to knock, and saw her mother laying on her side, knees tucked up and hair strewn messily on the pillow. She obviously hadn't heard Anna entering over the music, as she didn't move from her position. As Anna looked a little closer, she could see her mother's wet cheeks, and all of a sudden her heart pulled. That strong tug of guilt that she was becoming all too familiar with. At this sight, a sight that she had provoked and created, she felt a huge lump rise in her throat, and tears begin to well in her own eyes. She had done this, she had made her mother cry. She never meant it, though. Had she been that mean? Had she been that horrible that it had reduced her own, strong and composed mom to tears? She knew she was usually a little snarky and mean to everyone, but doing this to Cuddy was different. She bit her lip and turned back out of the room, closing the door behind her, as if she hadn't been there at all.

00

Emily and Chase walked aimlessly around the site of the carnival, Chase's arm firm around her shoulders, and hers around his waist, snuggling into his body as the crisp summer breeze flicked across her exposed skin. The man that ran the ride had let them stay on the ferris wheel for an extra rotation, and after, they got their cotton candy, Emily eating more of Chase's than he ended up eating.

"So it's getting late," Chase said, as they continued to wander.

Emily gasped, "Are you trying to get rid of me!"

Chase laughed and kissed the side of her head, "Of course not. Just we both have to work tomorrow, that's all."

"And you choose this particular moment to decide that you need to be well rested for work?" Emily asked, looking up at him, eyebrow raised.

"What?" Chase replied innocently.

"I seem to remember a particular someone coming into work hung-over, and on two hours sleep almost a week a go when his friend from Australia was in town…" Emily added just as innocently. Chase smiled and shook his head in defeat.

"I was wondering when you would start using that against me. Well, right now I think I should take you home," he said.

Emily turned in his arms and slid her hands purposefully across his sides, wrapping them around his back, then leaned up to his face and whispered hotly and wickedly into his ear, "I'm not ready to go home just yet."

00

Cuddy sat in her lounge room, staring out into space, the TV playing softly in the background. Anna had long since gone to bed, and as much as she wanted to, Cuddy felt she couldn't sleep. When she had peeked in to check on Anna, she had found her fast asleep, and feeling a deep pang of guilt, gently pulled the blankets snugly up around her neck, and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, before heading out to the lounge room.

And so she sat, staring out into nothingness, wishing she had someone to talk to. She would call her old friend Susan, but she was unreachable on a trip away with her husband. She really needed to just vent right now.

00

Chase pressed Emily against the closed apartment door, kissing a trail down her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair before pushing his jacket off his shoulders. He reached for the button of her waistcoat and undid it, pulling away from her only momentarily so that he could slip it off her. Before he could press her back against the door she took his hand with a smile and lead him away. She stop within an instant however, as she realised she had no idea where she was going. They both let out a laugh before Chase pointed in the direction of the bedroom, and she led him in. She then turned to face him and smiled as he came towards her, a hungry look on his face. He immediately captured her lips with his and wrapped his arms around her body. She ran her hands up and down his back, tugging on the hem of his shirt. He pulled away and she had just finished pulling it swiftly over his head when her pocket vibrated. She jumped slightly in shock, and quickly enough her ringtone began to sound. She groaned as she recognised the preset.

"Ignore it," Chase mumbled, moving his lips to her neck and kissing up to her chin.

"I can't," came her muffled reply as he took her bottom lip between his. She reached into her pocket, swiftly pulling out the phone and flipping it open, holding it up to her ear.

"Hello," she answered, trying to push away Chase's curious mouth.

"Em, hey," Cuddy said with relief at the other end, "are you still at Bettina's?"

"Ah, yeah," Emily replied, playing along with what must have been Anna's cover story.

"Just watching Pretty in Pink, for what must be the thousandth time," she lied. Chase pulled back slightly, giving her a bit of a puzzled look.

"She really does love that Jon Cryer," Cuddy replied.

"Oh, how was your date?" Emily asked, suddenly remembering, and trying to deflect the conversation from her.

"Well… not well," Cuddy said, upset evident in her voice.

"Oh no! Was he a dud?" Emily continued, urging the conversation to wrap up quickly, as she had an eager Chase nibbling at her earlobe.

"No, he was unable to make it," Cuddy replied, trying to remain casual about the whole affair.

"He stood you up?" Emily gasped sympathetically, causing an eye roll to come from Cuddy on the other end.

"Do you have a minute to chat? I've just had a really crappy night," Cuddy said miserably. Emily hesitated for a minute, trying to choose between the gorgeous half-naked man in front of her, or her mother.

"Umm, I'm really sorry mom, but I can't right now, Bettina is actually in the middle of -"

"Okay," Cuddy replied quickly, cutting her off, Emily quietly thankful that she didn't have to come up with a full blown excuse.

"I'm sorry -"

"No, no, it's… fine," Cuddy dismissed, "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Night," Emily replied, before hanging up the phone, feeling a little guilty. But only a little.

"Do you always lie to your mother about where you are?" Chase asked, fingers working on the buttons down the front of Emily's top.

"Mmm, only when I'm with sexy almost-naked men," she replied playfully, undoing his belt whilst she lay kisses on his shoulder.

"I don't think I want to know how often that is," he said, slipping the newly unbuttoned top off her shoulders.

"Just Alfredo," she replied flippantly, quickly whipping his belt out from the loops with a wicked smile. Chase immediately stopped and took a half a step back.

"Alfredo?" he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise, "Your mom's ex-handyman?"

"Yeah," she replied simply, moving her hands back to the waist of his pants.

"Woah. Does she know about this?" he asked, still disbelievingly.

"No," she scoffed, "and I'll thank you not to tell her."

"When?" he asked, stepping back from her grasp. She let out an annoyed sigh. She could see they weren't going to get anywhere until she divulged all the details.

"When I was about 16 and a half until I left for California," she replied quickly.

"Two years!"

"No! More like a year and a bit. Well, that's how long we were… you know, doing it for. Not constantly for a year because like, that'd be a LOT of sex and wouldn't really leave any time for -"

"Just, stop there," Chase said, cutting off her babbling. "Was he…"

"My first? Yes," she replied quickly, "and we only ever had a casual thing going. Now can we stop talking about previous intimacies and focus on this one?"

Chase let a smile creep onto his face, as he pulled her towards him by the waist. "Okay."

"Good. Cos you're kinda cramping my style here," she replied with a grin, letting his lips brush against hers.

"Sorry," he apologised, kissing along her jaw line.

"I'll have you know I don't normally put out this much on a first date," she added.

"Do you normally talk this much?" he asked with a hint of playful annoyance, devouring her neck.

"Well someone usually shuts me up," she replied, unbuttoning his pants.

"Your wish is my command," he grinned, before engulfing her lips in his.

00

_**A/N:** And there you go. Hope you enjoyed! Be sure to review on your way out…_

_Coming up next… Emily makes an interesting discovery in Chase's bathroom, and Cuddy whips out an old classic…_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

_**A/N: **It has been FOREVER! Almost a month again (tsk tsk). I really need to get my act together. But life has been CRAZY, what with year 12 in itself as well as the added pressure of the Cabaret thingy (pics on my website, it anyone is interested…). It was hell fun though, so all worth it!_

_Anyway, the next chapter should hopefully be quicker than this in coming… I've already written a bit. So thankyou to those reviewers for sticking with me, **prinnie**, **QT Roo**, **TNIIT**, **jassy2009**, **bostonfan**, **FriendsHolic**, **GallopGirl**, **StopTheWorldImGettingDizzy** (there will be some Huddy soon!), **Chromo26** – you are all my BITCHES. Hahaha no no, I love you. Keep reviewing. Please. No seriously, please. This fic is taking forever to write and I need you as my support team!_

_On with the story, you batty freak!_

00

Emily stepped under the hot stream of the shower, trying her best to get any thoughts of her mother out of her head. She had laid in Chase's arms for a few hours, eyes shut, but still awake. He had dropped off nearly instantly, his steady breathing and light snore not even mildly lulling her to sleep. She had tried counting backwards from 643, a trick that usually worked every time, but still, her worry for her mother had kept her awake.

She should have taken the call. She should have let her mother vent, but Rob was so irresistible, nibbling at her ear and dominating her thoughts.

She was selfish, she decided, as the water pounded down, soothing sore muscles and slicking her long hair against her back. She thought only of her imminent pleasure, rather than caring for a woman who had always cared for her. Well, almost always.

Attempting to run her fingers through her hair, she looked around the shower, eyes searching for at least some shampoo. No sooner had she started looking than her eyes fell upon several bottles of product on three vertically aligned shelves. She smiled as she discovered two of those bottles to be the own brand she uses. She had to stifle a hysterical laugh, as upon closer inspection of the numerous bottles, she discovered them all to be hair products. There was one bottle of orange scented body wash on the bottom shelf, with bottles of shampoo and conditioner – 'for sleek, shiny hair', she noted – sitting next to it. On the middle shelf sat the shampoo and conditioner of her own brand, as well as a bottle of treatment for dry hair. She then found herself clasping her hand over her mouth to stop from making an outrageous snigger-snorting sound as her eyes met the 'color-lock' hair treatment and matching wide toothed comb on the top shelf.

"So many choices," she sniggered quietly, her eyes perusing the shelves for a product to use. She finally settled on the shampoo she was used to, and lathered it into her hair.

00

Chase awoke in the early hours of the morning to the sound of the shower running. He noticed Emily's absence next to him and sat up to look at his bedside clock. _4:52am_.

"You've got to be joking me," he muttered, rubbing his eyes with his palms. A grin then played on his lips as he recalled the events of last night, his Emily filled post-coital slumber, and the naked girl now in the shower, hot water cascading over her sleek skin.

He quickly quelled those thoughts however, feeling himself becoming aroused. He ran his fingers through his hair and scanned the floor for his boxer briefs. Locating them he slid out of bed and pulled them on before heading straight back to the warmth and safety of the covers. He then sat patiently, dutifully awaiting for Emily to emerge from the bathroom. It only took a few minutes before he heard the water shut off, and a moment or two later a wet, towel-clad Emily came out of the bathroom. Chase quickly drew his knees up as he saw her there in all her beauty, long hair clinging to her shoulders, and long smooth legs covered in perfect droplets of water. She smiled as she noticed he was awake and walked towards him.

"Hey you," she grinned, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Chase, "sleep well?"

He could only nod, finding himself unable to form any words. He hadn't been in this sort of a situation for a while, and he didn't really want to say anything and risk screwing it up.

She laid a hand on his arm and gave him a regretful smile, running her hand along his hand absently, "I have to go."

"This early?" he asked, trying his best not to sound too upset by this news.

"I wanna get home before mom wakes up," she explained, "I feel kinda guilty for cutting her off last night."

"Well, that did have an upside," he smirked suggestively, tugging playfully at her towel.

"True," she grinned, a little too giddily. Chase took a lock of her loose wet waves in his hand and played with it aimlessly.

"I thought you had straight hair," he commented absently.

"Ah, the wonders of the hair straightener," she smirked, "my hair's almost straight anyway. Just a few kinks."

"Like your personality," he quipped, and she laughed, playfully slapping his knee.

"Well I'm not the one with several different brands of shampoos and hair treatments," she teased. He took the bait and suddenly became a little defensive.

"I just like to keep my hair healthy," he bit, looking a little offended. Emily laughed.

"It's like a salon in there! Which is good though, you had my products," she continued to tease. Chase just rolled his eyes, trying to shrug it off.

"Well I better get dressed," she stated, getting up and collecting her clothes from around the room. Placing them on the bed, she then looked at Chase, oddly expectantly.

"Eyes averted, please," she tsked.

"I saw you naked last night," he stated bluntly.

"Yes, but that was in a romantic context. This is an ugly 'I'm getting dressed' context, and I don't think you're ready for that," she explained with a shake of the head. Chase gave a little fed-up sigh and turned his head in the other direction.

"Thankyou," she proclaimed victoriously, quickly slipping her clothes from the previous night onto her body. Chase, of course, caught the occasional sneak peek. She buttoned her waistcoat and casually tossed her hair over her shoulder before turning around with a happy smile.

"Mkay," she hummed, picking up her shoes as she padded back towards Chase. She sat back down on the edge of the bed, closer to him, and leaned forward brushing his lips lightly with hers. Given the inch he ran a mile, wrapping an arm around her waist and deepening the kiss, her hand moving to his face, lighting cupping his cheek. He ran a hand through her thick hair as she moved to straddle him. The continued this exchange for a while before Emily pulled back quickly, out of breath.

"Okay, I really have to go now," she sighed, grin wide on her face.

"Just a little longer?" Chase pouted.

"If I don't leave now, I never will," she replied regretfully, running a hand affectionately down his chest.

"Bye," she flicked with a quick kiss, before hurriedly moving off the bed, trying to get as far away as she could – otherwise she'd never get away. Chase's gaze lingered after her longingly as she threw him a flashy smile over her shoulder heading out the door.

00

Emily crept into the dark house, the only light coming from the television in the lounge room. She looked in its direction to find her mother lying asleep on the couch, face smooshed against the arm rest, throw from the couch lighting over her body, and the DVD case for '_Yentl_' sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oh no," Emily muttered, noting the empty ice cream container sitting next to the DVD case. Disturbed by the sound of Emily's entry, Cuddy began to stir. But before Emily had a chance to quickly escape to her room, Cuddy noticed her.

"Emily?" she mumbled, sitting up groggily. Emily immediately softened, pang of guilt at her heart, and headed back in Cuddy's direction.

"Hey mom," she said sympathetically.

"What time is it?" Cuddy croaked, her voice rough from sleep.

"Early," Emily stated, sitting down on the couch at her mother's feet.

"Early is not a time," Cuddy glared.

"6ish," Emily replied, causing Cuddy to groan, knowing she had to get ready for work soon.

"Hey," Emily offered, touching her mother's calf affectionately, "what happened?"

"Nothing," Cuddy dismissed, sitting herself up properly and trying to avoid the conversation.

"Mom, you watched Yentl. _Yentl_. Sad, excessively Jewish Barbra Streisand film equals someone is upset. We only watch it when we're sad. Now what happened, were the waiters laughing at you because your date didn't show?" Emily demanded.

"No. Well… yes, actually. They were making bets," she sulked.

"Bets!" Emily sympathised, her eyes wide.

"That's what House thought, anyway. And he was probably right. He's always right…" she muttered.

"House? Dr House was there?"

"He showed up, and made the night a living hell," Cuddy complained.

"Oh no…" Emily bit her lip.

"Yeah. He just wouldn't stop scrutinising my every move, mocking me, like it was the only thing he knew how to do! I was already vulnerable because of Max not showing, and he was just… rubbing it in. And he was saying things about you -"

"What was he saying!" Emily interjected, demanding.

"Nothing I haven't heard before. Going on about how I must be… ashamed of you and Anna, to keep you a secret for so long…" she mumbled. Emily looked down awkwardly, a little embarrassed and hurt. The fact that her mom hadn't told anyone at the hospital about her was always a sore point. Cuddy looked up and saw how uncomfortable Emily looked, and tried to right her wrong.

"But I don't. I'm not. I could never be ashamed of you, Em. You know I love you," she explained, reaching out to take Emily's hand, rubbing it lovingly.

"Then why did you? Keep it a secret," she asked quietly.

"Because… because I didn't want you to get caught up in all that – the gossip mill. They're merciless, at the hospital, they would have torn us all apart. I couldn't bear to have them scrutinising all my life decisions, and I didn't want my job to suffer for it -"

"Of course, your _job_," Emily bit rather snappily, withdrawing her hand from Cuddy's grasp.

"Em… you know my job is important to me. But you and Anna are _more_ important. If I thought you would suffer because of my choice to keep our private life exactly that, I would have told people. I didn't want them to judge you because of… the way you got here…" she explained, taking Emily's hand back. She kissed the top of it lightly and rubbed it reassuringly, making Emily feel a bit better.

"I'm the one that's meant to be making _you_ feel better," Emily said with a small laugh. Cuddy smiled.

"Well… I'm okay. Nothing a good distraction like work won't fix. House just really got to me last night, that's all. I'll be fine," she explained.

"Good," Emily replied, standing up.

"Oh, how as Bettina's?" Cuddy asked, remembering, "this is a bit of an odd hour to come home, isn't it? I thought you were staying over."

"Oh. I ah, was. But I didn't in the end, I wanted to get home and make sure you were alright," Emily fumbled. It was then Cuddy noticed Emily's hair.

"Why is your hair wet?" she asked.

"I had a shower," she explained quickly, "at Bettina's. You know…"

"You couldn't have waited until you got home for that?" Cuddy asked, raising her eyebrow, knowing something wasn't quite right.

"Well she had, ah, this new hair product. Yeah, and I wanted to try it out, so I did. It's good. Feels shiny," she bluffed.

"Okay…" Cuddy accepted, still a little suspicious.

00

An hour and a half later, Cuddy sat at the breakfast table, right hand wrapped around a mug of hot coffee, and the other playing with a piece of raisin toast. Emily sat opposite her, hunched over a box of Fruit Loops, intermittently shoving handfuls of the sugary cereal into her mouth.

"Busy day?" Emily asked casually, reaching her hand into the box.

"No more than usual," Cuddy replied perfunctorily, eyes on the paper as she put down her toast to turn the page.

"Sounds like I might not be needed then," Emily slithered.

"You're coming. You're not getting out of working that easily," Cuddy replied, eyes gazing up quickly with a slight glare. The both looked up as the sound of shuffling feet brought a pyjama clad Anna through the kitchen.

"Morning," Emily smiled chirpily, eliciting only a grunt from Anna as she plonked down next to Emily, seizing the Fruit Loops box straight out of Emily's grasp and plunging her hand inside. Cuddy looked up with a raised eyebrow as she watched her daughters munching on the cheap dry cereal.

"Nice to know I taught my daughters such great eating habits," she snarked. Anna's gaze met Cuddy's and they quickly looked away, awkward after the events of the previous evening. Emily picked up on this straight away.

"You two bitch fight last night?" she asked bluntly before putting a handful of cereal into her mouth.

"Emily," Cuddy warned, "we did not _bitch fight _-"

"Mom was the only one being bitchy," Anna interjected.

"Hey!" Cuddy replied, offended.

"Truce! Truce!" Emily cried, putting her hands up defensively. "It is early. Let's not get started. Sorry for bringing it up."

They all went back to their respective activities, Cuddy reading and sipping her coffee, Anna and Emily sharing their box of dry cereal.

"Don't forget dinner at Jimmy's tonight," Cuddy reminded casually.

"Is Julie going to be there?" Emily asked with a slight disdain.

"Julie is his _wife_, Emily… so probably not," she replied. Anna snickered.

"As far as I know, she will be there. So be civil, please," Cuddy pleaded.

"Hmmm, I'll talk to my life coach about it. He doesn't like it when I suppress my feelings," she quipped, standing up and pushing the box from her seat to in front of Anna. Cuddy rolled her eyes at her daughter's comment.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth. You know, really rub that sugar in," she trailed off as she walked out of the room, leaving Cuddy with her paper and Anna with her cereal. They sat their quietly, the mood a little icy. Neither felt particularly comfortable around the other following the previous night's fight. Cuddy took a sip of her coffee before sighing and deciding to bite the bullet.

"Anna," she started.

"I can go eat in my room," she replied quickly, standing and grabbing the box.

"No sit," Cuddy swiftly answered, and Anna reluctantly thudded back down into her chair.

"I have an offer for you," Cuddy continued, both hands clutching her mug for confidence.

"Does it involve any sort of anger management classes? Because I'm not doing them again," she replied defensively.

"No -"

"Or therapy? I told you, if I want my head to be shrunk I will do it on my own time -"

"No, Anna. Just listen," Cuddy interjected a little short temperedly. "I was wondering if… you would accept a kind of internship. At the hospital."

Silence.

"You're serious?" Anna scoffed.

"Yes. Emily told me you were thinking of oncology as your specialty - though I know you're still pre-med – and I'm sure James wouldn't mind having you tag along with him, learning a few things -"

"No WAY!" Anna bellowed furiously.

"But I thought you liked -"

"There is no WAY I would _ever_ accept that," she scoffed rudely.

"Anna, this is a good opportunity to -"

"Yeah, not an opportunity I want because you are my _mother_. I'm not going to accept some sort of educational bribery from you. I don't want to get an internship simply because I am your daughter," she defended.

"It doesn't matter if you're my daughter or not, you are going to study to be a doctor -"

"I'm not studying to be _you_ mother!" she spat.

"Alright that is _enough_!" Cuddy growled. "I am trying to offer you a genuine opportunity, and all you are doing is throwing it rudely back in my face!"

"I don't want to be '_Dr Cuddy's daughter_', that's your style, not mine! I want to be successful in my own right! NOT because of you," Anna snarled, pushing her chair back violently and storming out of the kitchen. Cuddy remained sitting, vein pulsing in her forehead, and regretting the decision to make Anna any sort of offer.

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_**A/N:** There you go! TENSION in the ranks, my dears. Review, and more will magically appear._

_Coming up next… dinner at Jimmy's does not go as Cuddy had planned, with an unexpected surprise throwing her off her feet…_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15**_

_**A/N: **I know! I know! It's been over a month again! And I promised I would get this part to you sooner! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!_

_School has been a KILLER! Can you say uber-busy? I seriously have not had a free moment to get on the computer, yet alone write anything. I had my drama ensemble performance… and well, all creative energies went into that. And other energies too, frankly. Let's just say that Friday night I went to bed at 9:15pm and woke up at 11am the following morning. Tired, tired torzi._

_My most enthusiastic love rays to my reviewers **prinnie**, **GallopGirl**, **moo333**, **Chromo26**, **TNIIT**, **soccerchick13**, **bostonfan**, **cazness**, **QT Roo** and **jassy2009**. I love you. I want to have your hot babies. (okay that was going a bit too far…)_

_Ok, now I have to be honest with you people. I'm starting to get a bit over this fic. But that's just part of my pattern I think, when I get this far into a story I get tired, and I get all these ideas for new fics (got a GREAT one brewing upstairs, btw). However, I am determined to live this one out! The whole Linda thing will definitely be addressed, etc, etc, and I hope to squeeze everything I wanted into this fic before it becomes bland. So, in line with that, things will now be moving a lot faster (except for this chap… which takes place over one night…). It's time to really get that ball rolling, and get those juicy secrets out there! Go with me here, people!_

_Anyway, this part has been a long time coming, really. (You'll understand what I mean later… hehehe) True, I already had the first part written for a while, but some of the in between bits were harder, so…_

_Enjoy and review! (screaming that last part…)_

00

Cuddy walked purposely up the steps of Wilson's path, Emily and Anna dragging a metre or so behind. She was going to enjoy this night – whether she liked it or not. In her right hand she clutched a bottle of white wine, and her purse hung over her left shoulder.

"Mom, wait up," Emily semi-groaned, as Cuddy powered up the never ending paved steps.

"We're late as it is," she breathed smoothly, the steps no trouble for her and her exercise regime. Anna dawdled a step behind Emily.

"Why on earth are you bringing wine?" Anna asked, finally noticing the bottle her mother was clutching.

"Yeah you don't drink wine," Emily pointed out.

"I do too," Cuddy retaliated, looking over her shoulder, disgruntled.

"I don't want to have to drive us home," Emily complained.

"It's just a present for James and Julie," Cuddy appeased, reaching the door and knocking quickly, "I do not intend for him to break it open."

The door swung open, and House stood there grinning broadly.

"Dr Cuddy!" he proclaimed jollily.

"I take that back," she flicked over her shoulder, suddenly despairing eyes fixed on House.

"Come in, come in," he smiled, holding the door wide open as the twins finally finished climbing the mountainous steps and stood behind their mother. Wilson then appeared at the door, obviously a bit annoyed at House.

"Lisa, hi," he groveled, a little embarrassed by House's excessive cheeriness.

"What is he doing here?" Cuddy muttered through clenched teeth.

"He invited himself," Wilson replied sheepishly, speaking as though House weren't there holding the door open with a wide grin. "Julie had something come up at the last minute, so… is there a problem?"

"Well actually," Cuddy explained, stepping inside and taking Wilson's elbow, leading him a bit out of earshot, "he kind of showed up and… ruined my date last night," she whispered.

Wilson's eyes widened, "I… ah…"

"It doesn't matter now," Cuddy sighed with agitation, "he's here, isn't he."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"Well, let's just crack this open, shall we?" she suggested, thrusting the bottle of wine into Wilson's grasp. He took a moment to look at it.

"For you and Julie," she explained, "but it looks like we could use it here."

"I think… I agree with that," he answered, nodding and turning to face the twins, who were still in the doorway, looking at a still grinning House strangely.

"Hi girls," he said with a genuine smile.

"Hi Uncle Jimmy," Emily beamed, giving him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek stepping inside. House, upon hearing her refer to Wilson as 'Uncle', raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Hi Jimmy," Anna echoed, mirroring Emily's actions and giving Wilson a quick hug and kiss hello. The girls followed Cuddy further into the house, and Wilson shut the door behind them.

"Uncle?" House asked, intrigued.

"I'll explain later House," Wilson muttered, following the Cuddys into the living room.

00

"…and so of course, Bettina and I hadn't ordered the eight large pizzas, so we were trying to tell this pimply faced little delivery boy, and he just would _not_ get the message…"

House sat slumped in his chair, utter boredom evident on his face, as Emily spouted on and on to Wilson about something or other. House still hadn't gotten his 'Uncle' explanation, and quite frankly right now he was so tired that he couldn't be bothered to deduce it for himself. Cuddy sat reasonably quietly, taking intermittent mouthfuls of wine between avoiding House's gaze. Anna, on the other hand, was trying to get a word in whenever her sister stopped for breath, and Wilson was looking reasonably interested in what Emily had to say.

House took to loudly tapping his spoon on the edge of his bowl, his soup only half eaten, causing sidelong glances to be cast his way in annoyance. Finally, Wilson gave up.

"Sorry Em, I'm gonna have to interrupt you for a second… House, could I have a word with you in the kitchen?" he squeezed out the side of his mouth, glaring at House.

"What possibly for, Dr Wilson?" House asked, joviality creeping back into his voice now that he was getting attention again. Juvenile, sure, but fun.

"House…" Wilson warned, and House wiggled his eyebrows at the girls – who were watching him with cautious looks on their faces – and strode into the kitchen behind his counterpart.

The moment they were out of earshot Wilson turned and growled at House.

"Are you _purposefully_ trying to ruin this evening, or does it just come naturally?" he scolded.

"You tell me, _Uncle_ Jimmy, since you seem to be quite the party favourite tonight," House teased, leaning heavily on his cane.

"Either behave, or leave. This was meant to be a dinner for me to catch up with the twins, and you gate-crashing it wasn't exactly something I'd had in mind," Wilson shot.

"Hmm, the twins," House playfully mused, "whom… you've never met before, right? Like me?"

Wilson took a deep breath and braced himself. "Lisa is… my sister."

House just stared at him, eyes wide, for once without anything to say.

"We knew each other as kids, our families were good friends, and I found out on my 18th birthday that her dad was my dad too. My mum had had an affair with her dad years ago, which had resulted in me," he explained.

"So it _does_ run in the family," House snarked.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread this around, no one knows except the two of us. And now… you," he winced.

"Don't worry _bro_, your secret's safe with me. So… whilst Cuddy was doing her best to hide her kids from the rest of the world, you lot were playing happy families."

"Something like that," Wilson sighed.

"Hmm… intrigue," House said dramatically.

"Can we go back to the table now? Can I trust you to not be a complete annoyance?"

"I'll have to talk to my people, but yeah. And don't worry, I'm not gonna go embarrassing sissy Cuddles. I did enough of that one last night," House smirked.

"Hey, about that," Wilson said strongly, grabbing House's arm to stop him from leaving, "what did you say to her?"

"Wow, you're quite the protective brother."

"I'm serious, House. I've seen her angry - this is dangerously pissed," he warned.

"I just put a few home truths out there. I don't think she took it so well," House justified.

"Do _not_ trying anything tonight. If you say so much as one word to her…"

"You'll beat me up? You'll get your mom to call my mom?" House teased. Wilson gave House one final glare before heading back out to the dining room, House moseying on behind, a smug smile on his face.

The rest of the dinner went by reasonably amicably, House staying quiet, and girls sharing their news with Wilson. Soon enough the bottle of wine Cuddy brought had disappeared, though, Wilson mused to himself, he'd only had a small glass.

They were halfway through dessert when House went and opened his trap.

"So Dr Cuddy, how's J-Date working for you? Got any nice new prospects? Maybe a rabbi?" House snarked, only to have Wilson kick his leg (thankfully, the good leg) under the table.

"Dr Wilson!" House gasped, "did you just kick me under the table!" Wilson promptly turned a deep shade of crimson and tried to hide his face in embarrassment.

"So, are _you_ married Dr House?" Anna snapped from the other end of the table.

"Only to the Lord," House snarked in reply, clasping his hands together in a praying gesture.

"Pre-Nup?"

"Of course. I want to milk Him for all He's worth. Ask 'ole Uncle Jimmy, he knows _all_ about it."

"What did God let you get out of this pre-Nup?"

"A split share of heaven, Madonna sent to hell, and all of David Bowie's profits."

"You might be lost for cash then."

"Not a fan?"

"Let's just say if I were Ground Control, I wouldn't be calling Major Tom."

"I don't suppose you'd wear a space suit then would you?"

"Not a chance."

"It's a shame, the Cuddy hair would be so funny under a helmet."

"As opposed to the House hair? Sorry, lack of."

"Touché," House appeased, and they both took a moment to have a mouthful of chocolate mousse, other parties at the table wide eyed, before heading straight back into it.

"Diagnostics?" Anna began.

"Yep. Solving the world's problems one step at a time."

"From what I've heard, you seem to be causing one annoyance at a time."

"Oh, mommy can be so cruel."

"Don't I know it."

"I see, common ground," House commented with a smirk, and Cuddy's head snapped up from her dessert, noticing they were talking about her.

"The distance from here to college has become a blessing."

"Pre-med?"

"Of course."

"Michigan?"

"Harvard."

"Snob."

"Slob."

"Erm, House," Cuddy said, cutting off the banter awkwardly, "can I speak with you out… there, for a minute?"

"Dr Cuddy, this is neither the time, nor place for a booty call," he snarked. The table's collective eyes widened. Cuddy just glared as she stood up slightly clumsily and walked wonkily out of the room – the wine she drank starting to catch up with her – gesturing for House to follow.

"House, what are you doing?" Cuddy asked him exasperatedly as they stopped when reaching Wilson's study across the hall.

"I'm following you into Jimmy's mini cancer lab," House quipped, eyes flicking to the walls lined with oncology books.

"I mean in there," she rolled her eyes.

"I _was_ enjoying Wilson's home-made chocolate mousse -"

"Don't act stupid. All those questions, interrogating my daughters. You have no place being here -"

"I think you're just afraid I'm gonna find out something you don't want me to know," House investigated, eyes staring strongly at Cuddy, ready to gage a reaction. She was speechless for a minute.

"Admit it, you didn't want me to know about your private life -"

"- because it's private -"

"- or anyone else to, for that matter. And the whole brother Jimmy thing? I can't believe you managed to keep that one to yourself. Talk about secret nepotism to the max."

Cuddy stood, the breath kicked out of her for a moment. "Who – how do you know about that?"

"Oh please, Wilson threatened to bash me if I hit on you. Very high school justice, you should be proud. Besides, there were too many "Uncle Jimmy"s thrown around for me _not_ to find out," he fired.

"House, I…"

House sighed. "Look, Cuddles, I'm just here because… well, because I'm a curious man. You and kids were a puzzle, and hey, now half of it's solved. You know me. Just can't let things be," he mumbled, his voice softening. He looked down at his cane and fiddled with it for a moment, Cuddy watching his hand intently, and suddenly becoming aware of how close to her he was.

"Lisa… I'm sorry," he muttered awkwardly, her eyes flicking up to his mouth, "about last night. I crossed the line, I was rude and -"

House was cut off as Cuddy's lips suddenly crashed against his.

"- an ass," he tried to continue against her mouth.

"You're always an ass," she quipped back between kisses, her hands coming to rest on his cheeks.

"True, but -"

"Shut up, House," she muttered, hands reaching behind his neck and pulling him in even closer. Cuddy's head was fuzzy, all that wine impairing her judgement, and she suddenly wondered what the hell she was doing. She was being incredibly stupid. She was kissing a man, who in the last 24 hours had insulted her so badly she'd had half a mental breakdown. This was most definitely _not_ a good idea. But, hell, she couldn't stop.

As her tongue moved to part his lips, House finally realized what was going on. He could taste the wine on her lips, and as much as he wanted Cuddy, and as much as he would keep going in this circumstance with another woman – this was _Cuddy_. And despite what he constantly tried to tell himself, he cared about her, and he didn't want to make this move in their relationship if she was going to regret it.

"Lisa," he protested, but the sound of him using her first name just flared up her passion even more, and she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck.

"Cuddy, stop," he said, pulling away and letting her arms slide down off his neck. There she stood in front of him, lips full and red and eyes wide with desire, and it took every ounce of his strength not to just grab her and pretend he'd never pulled back. It only took a moment, however, for her to realize what she'd done and that he'd pulled away, and she turned a bright shade of red and looked away nervously.

Suddenly she couldn't see properly. Everything seemed to be in blurred fast motion – her eyes couldn't keep up. Before she knew it she was stumbling backward.

"Cuddy?" House could see she was struggling to stay stable, and he quickly grabbed Wilson's leather chair and tried to position it behind her. He put a hand on her back and before he knew it she fell backwards into his arms and with him hissing a quick "shit", they fell into the chair, Cuddy straight onto his bad leg. He let out a gasp of pain and grabbed his leg, quickly moving her limp body onto his other leg. He fumbled into his pocket for a vicodin and swiftly popped it, knowing he hadn't drunk nearly enough for it to be a bad idea. Cuddy had done enough drinking for the both of them. Trying to slip out from underneath her, he awkwardly managed to get himself up, and moved her to sit squarely in the chair. And there she sat, head lolled down and body limp. He let out a sigh as he lifted her head and pushed the hair away from her face. Even passed out she still looked beautiful. He straightened her up briefly, as he hoped against hope that she would forget about how she'd practically jumped him. As much as he would enjoy teasing her about it, it would set back his romantic progress with her by months. And although he fought with her, hated her, teased her relentlessly and constantly embarrassed her, there was no one he looked out for more than Lisa Cuddy. Though he would never tell anyone – even Wilson. Especially Wilson now that he was Brother Wilson too.

He quickly glanced at the doorway to make sure no one was watching, and checked that she was definitely unconscious before he gave her an uncharacteristic kiss on the temple. He smiled internally then headed out of the room, leaning on his cane heavily as the vicodin hadn't quite kicked in, and entered the dining room. There Wilson, Emily and Anna sat quietly, eating their dessert.

They looked up as he came in, and he cleared his throat loudly before robustly announcing, "Dr Cuddy is unconscious in the study."

00

_**A/N:** woooo! Cuddy finally gets some lip action! Let's hope LE gets her wish for Cuddy in the show too… review people. Do it, seriously, do it. Just do it. Do it. Hehehe. But no, do do it._

_Coming up next... Cuddy wakes up. Uh-oh._


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter 16**_

_**A/N: **Only a week between updates! Wooo! Go me! Quite an achievement, even if I do say so myself._

_Now, I was fooling around, and had a quick look at my stats page. Discovered that surprisingly enough, 21 people have put this story on story alert, yet only about 10 or 11 (if I'm lucky) review each chapter. Now, this could just be my wishful thinking, and half the people that get alerts think 'pssssh not this story again, its so shit, why did I make it an alert!' But who knows. So maybe if you're still reading and you haven't been in the mood to review yet, give me a shout at the end of this chap like these wonderful reviewers:_

_**prinnie**, **moo333**, **Jojo**, **RogueButterfly**, **bostonfan**, **QT Roo**, **soccerchick13**, **GallopGirl**, **Chromo26** and **jassy2009**, I HEART YOU ALL!_

_But I can't blame you if you don't… because honestly, I don't review every story I have on alert (bad, BAD torzi!) But since I updated so quickly this time… pop-pop gets a treat?_

_Anyway, it seems the huddy action went down pretty DAMN well last chap, so who knows, you may be in for some more… hehehe!_

_Enjoy! And review!_

00

Cuddy's eyes groggily peeled open, eyelashes fused together in a mash of mascara and sleep. The blurs between her lashes soon came into focus, and the face of a grumpy and aggravated Emily appeared staring her down.

"Lisa Cuddy, you are an idiot," Emily declared, thrusting a half-full glass of water and two aspirin out to her mother. Cuddy just groaned as she attempted to sit up.

"Take pills and eat food," she continued, turning to the bedside table once Cuddy had taken the water, and picking up a plate of dry white toast and thrusting it towards her mother in the same fashion as before.

"Unless," Emily interjected quickly, darting a hand over Cuddy's to stop her from taking the pills, "you are still drunk."

"I am not drunk," Cuddy grumbled, retracting her hand and taking the two aspirin.

"Well you certainly were last night. If you're going to throw up, tell me, I have the bucket," she added, picking up the old pink bucket from the laundry that they used to fill with water when they were mopping, and showing her. Cuddy just shook her head groggily. Picking up the toast she inspected it, then frowned.

"This is white toast," she complained.

"Pissed moms can't be picky moms," Emily replied frankly, picking up the toast from the plate and trying to move it in the direction of Cuddy's mouth. She resisted and snatched the bread out of Emily's hand, nibbling on the corner slowly.

"So I managed to stop you from doing anything too inappropriate when you came to last night," Emily explained, "but who knows _what_ you got up to before I came to your aid."

Cuddy just let out a grunt and took a few more nibbles of the toast before putting it down, the corner hardly eaten. Emily immediately picked it back up and put it in her hand.

"Keep eating," she ordered.

"_I'm_ the mom," Cuddy protested.

"Yeah, well moms don't get drunk at family dinners and leave their daughters to apologize and try and drag them home," Emily spat, anger suddenly in her voice. Cuddy just looked at her with sad, pleading eyes.

"Just keep eating," she muttered. They continued to sit in silence, Cuddy nibbling and Emily looking at her hands. Cuddy put the toast down again and let out a sigh.

"Em -"

"And where do you get off getting pissed anyway? After all the lectures you gave me and Anna about drinking responsibly. I wouldn't be surprised if we were conceived on some drunken night you can't even remember -"

"- that's not fair -"

"- hey, I don't see a dad around here anywhere, do you!" Emily choked.

"Emily, you know -"

"Yeah, I know. You went out for two months and you didn't know you were pregnant 'til you transferred to Stanford. But that doesn't make not having a dad any easier," she confessed.

"You've never really been upset about this before, you've got James -"

"It's not the same and you know it. I love Uncle Jimmy, but… ugh, sometimes I think this family is just so fucked up…" she groaned.

"Em…"

"Things aren't supposed to happen this way. There's supposed to be a mom, a dad, 2.5 kids, a dog, a white picket fence – the works! Not just some vague semblance of a family. I mean, Anna doesn't even talk to you! Not the way she should, anyway! And it's supposed to be _me_ coming home pissed and _you_ taking care of and telling off _me_. I told you, mom, I _told_ you the wine was a bad idea, because you _know_ Cuddys can't hold their drink, but you did it anyway! For some _stupid_ reason you thought… I dunno _what_ you thought, but… but this isn't something that you would do. I'm sorry," she spluttered, "I can't be around you right now. I hate to think I'm the daughter of someone so stupid and… irresponsible."

Emily got up from the chair she had pulled up to the bed, and walked out, leaving Cuddy sitting heavy hearted. Emily was right, she'd been stupid, and things were definitely messed up. She'd never intended for her girls to grow up without a father, but she never did find the right man for the job. And far as the drinking was concerned, she didn't know why she did it. Just seeing House sitting there, smirking at her, knowing things she didn't want him to know, just made her mad and want to drown it away. Before she knew it one glass had turned into at least half a bottle.

Cuddy was broken out of her musings as Anna entered the room, heading straight over to the chair in the corner and sitting herself down. Cuddy just looked at her with a surprised expression. Anna rested her right ankle on her left knee and crossed her arms.

"Did you do something slutty?" she asked unabashedly, staring her mother straight in the eye. Cuddy just sat there, eyes widened and mouth open.

"Please say no," Anna continued, with a slight cringe.

"I… can't remember," Cuddy replied, defeated.

"Figures."

"Look, I don't need grief from you now too, Emily's already given me an earful," Cuddy defended.

"Oh I don't care if you're drunk. Go for it, have the time of your life, I don't care. Em's just upset because she had to drive home," Anna chuckled.

"She did?" Cuddy asked with a bit of a cringe.

"No, she actually propped you up in the back seat while _I_ drove. But you threw up a bit on the leg of her jeans, so she wasn't happy. By the way your car smells of sick now," she added.

"Great," Cuddy groaned.

"Don't be surprised if Uncle Jimmy calls either, he was more than a little worried," Anna pointed out.

"Oh no," Cuddy fretted, hating that he was worried about her. That could only lead to an entourage of questions.

"I already called the hospital and told them the boss is hung-over and won't be coming in," Anna explained, trying hard to suppress her grin. Cuddy's gaze immediately flicked to the clock, noting it was already almost 11am.

"Anna!" she protested, "I can't just _not_ go to work!"

"Relax, it's not like the hospital is going to burn down. Not unless that hot-plate with the frayed wires I left on falls off its precarious perch on the shoulder of the couch onto the cushion…" she playfully cringed. Cuddy just glared.

"Not funny."

"I think you need to stop freaking out, and start eating the rest of that toast," Anna replied, pointing to the gnawed on piece of toast sitting on the bedside table.

"It's _white_ toast," Cuddy glared.

"I know, I chose it out especially," Anna grinned wickedly.

"No raisin or whole meal left?" Cuddy asked skeptically.

"Oh no, plenty of raisin and whole meal. That white just looked _so yummy_," she continued, her grin growing by the second. Cuddy rolled her eyes then shifted around in the bed groggily.

"Hang-over much?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. It's getting better though. It's lessened from a stampede on my head to just the elephants," she described.

"Coffee?" Anna offered, standing up.

"Please," Cuddy replied. Anna started heading out of the room amicably, and Cuddy looked at her suspiciously.

"Why are you being so nice?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"What, I'm not allowed to revel in the fact that my mother just did something incredibly stupid and for once I have nothing to do with it?" she grinned.

"Point taken," Cuddy grunted, pulling the covers further up around her body as Anna left to get her coffee with a smirk.

Now if she could only remember what she did last night.

00

That afternoon Cuddy sat, strapped down on her sofa by a pile of blankets, watching _Arrested Development_ on DVD. Emily had gone to pick up some food for dinner, and Anna had left the house to "get away from all the self-pity". Unable to bare just sitting down and watching TV, she had snuck into her bedroom to retrieve some hospital files from her bag to peruse. They remained safely hidden under the blankets so that if Anna arrived home suddenly she wouldn't have to quickly bustle around and hide them. If Cuddy was seen to be working when she should be resting, no doubt Anna would switch right back into her usual distant and 'oh right, of_ course_, the hospital' mood.

Anna had been surprisingly helpful and – dare she say – compassionate through the whole ordeal. She'd gotten coffee, she'd put DVDs on, she'd piled her mother down with blankets. It was almost as if the twins had suddenly swapped lives, throwing Cuddy into some sort of parallel universe that she was a little uncomfortable with. Anna still hadn't forgiven her for what happened with Linda, so Cuddy couldn't help wondering that this may be the calm before the storm. The bigger storm, anyway.

She groaned as she heard the doorbell ring. It was probably Wilson, stopping by to make sure she was okay, and lecture her about the night before.

"It's open," she called, tucking her hair behind her ears in a vague attempt to look more presentable. However, the footsteps she heard were not those of her half-brother.

Step, _thump_, step. Step, _thump_, step.

She turned towards the doorway to find none other than Greg House standing in her hallway.

"House!" she gasped indignantly, eyes wide.

"Not happy to see me, Cuddles?" he quipped, moving towards her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" she deflected, trying not to meet his eyes. She'd done something hugely embarrassing last night, she was sure of it, she just couldn't remember what it was.

"Shouldn't _you_," he probed back, sitting down next to her on the spacious two-seater couch.

"I -" she spluttered.

"Hangover is hardly an excuse for not coming into work. I mean really, I come in _drunk_ sometimes, so hung-over is _nothing_," he quipped.

"You do _not_," she glared.

"Says who?"

"Says me, who would fire you if you turned up to work drunk," she bit, uncomfortable at his invasion into her home and subsequently personal space. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, looking at each other, House's face saying he knew something she didn't know. And she was definitely sure that she didn't want to know.

"So, how's the memory?" he started, tapping on her head with his fist. She winced at his touch and groaned in pain.

"Oops, sorry, forgot," he feigned innocence.

"Remember much?" he continued.

"No," she mumbled, snuggling down into her blankets in sheer embarrassment, hoping to somehow disappear.

"Tsk, shame," he grinned teasingly.

"Why?" she cringed hesitantly, bracing herself.

"Oh, no reason," he replied flippantly, that mischievous grin still not leaving his face.

"Well if you've come here to laugh at me and belittle my existence, I will have none of it," she said haughtily.

"Of course not Cudsy, my sweetness," he grinned. She glared at him suspiciously. This was not going well.

"What do you want?" she glared.

"Just to spend some quality time with my boss-and-a-half! My cute little coochie-cakes!"

"Alright, that's enough!" she snapped, sitting herself up and sliding as far away from House as she could get.

"What is going on here!" she demanded.

"Why, don't you remember? I'd think you'd remember the happiest moment of our lives, sweetums!" he replied in outrage.

"House…" she warned suspiciously.

"Cudsical! I can't believe you don't remember our _wedding_!" he gasped. Cuddy's eyes suddenly widened and her jaw dropped open.

"Of course, your proposal came as quite a shock, but how could I say no? Off we headed to a sweet little 24-hour chapel, and exchanged loving vows. Sure, I had to hold you up for half of it, but still, it was romantic," he cooed. Cuddy just sat there like a stunned mullet. House grabbed her left hand and gasped.

"Why aren't you wearing the ring I bought you!" he asked heart-brokenly.

"I'm wearing mine," he added, holding up his left hand to show a tacky purple Hello Kitty ring that looked like it had been picked up for 50 cents at a dodgy Asian market.

"Remember, we wanted to match," he said with doughy eyes.

"Alright, give it up House. That's not even funny," she sulked, snapping her hand back out of his grasp. "I didn't marry you."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Because even drunk I wouldn't so much as _touch_ you, yet alone marry you," she spat.

"Well…"

"Don't try and trick me into thinking I jumped you or something, because…" and then her eyes widened to the size of golf balls as images of the previous night suddenly flashed across her mind. She turned a deep shade of crimson before burying her head in her hands.

"Oh god," she groaned.

"Mmm, heard those sounds before," he teased, and she immediately thrashed a hand out to slap his arm before quickly retracting it. He slid down the couch towards her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, and she cowered down in the corner, burying herself under the blankets.

"Go away," she mumbled.

"I thought _I_ was meant to be the immature one," he muttered.

"I'm serious, go back to the hospital. I cannot look at you right now."

But House didn't. Instead, he sat back into the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table, directing his attention to the TV. Cuddy peeked out at him through her fingers.

"What are you doing?" she asked bitterly.

"Watching Arrested Development. I can't believe they stopped this show. I had the perfect tagline for it – 'Arrested Development. The show that's too smart for you'," he prattled.

"House," she snapped, sitting up quickly. House gasped and quickly recoiled, holding his hands up in front of his face.

"Please don't jump me again! No, no! I want to keep my innocence," he cried, cowering away. She rolled her eyes and straightened up her blankets, sitting against the arm of the couch, leaving her legs out to separate them.

"Okay, lets talk about this," she said rationally, opting to look her embarrassment in the face, and deal with it. House groaned.

"Hey, you came here, so we're gonna talk about it," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"So… I was drunk," she started.

"Granted."

"And I wasn't thinking straight. Because I'm not usually drunk…" she explained.

"Granted, again."

"So… I didn't mean to kiss you. It was a mistake. I'm sorry."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," he replied smarmily. She simply glared at him.

"Well it won't happen again," she continued.

"Not ever?" he asked with disappointment.

"House," she glared.

"Fine, I get the point. You were pretty off your face, I have to say. However, I do deserve some thanks."

"Huh, and how do you figure that?" she scoffed.

"I didn't take advantage of you. I could have easily let you have your wicked way with me, but no, I decided to save you from further embarrassment. Though, quite frankly, I don't see how anyone could be embarrassed after sleeping with me."

"Can we please just agree that it was a mistake and that it should never be replicated?" she sighed, taking her legs off the couch and swiveling around to sit properly. House turned to face her and their eyes met, Cuddy's strangely timid, and House's determined.

"And are you sure that's what you want, Lisa?"

00

_**A/N:** Funny (but also not funny) personal anecdote – my mum forced me to eat dry whole-meal toast (which I hate) when I was hung-over: hence inspiration for Emily force-feeding Cuddy. But yeah, you probably didn't want to know that._

_REVIEW. Please?_

_Coming up next... Cuddy doesn't know what she wants…_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17**_

_**A/N: **WOW. It looks like my desperate little speel at the beginning of last chapter really raked the reviews in… THANKYOU! You are all such little champions! Not only did I have some first time reviewer long time readers, but also some first time reviewer first time readers too! So that was quite exciting for little old me. I feel like I should make some sort of commemorative mural in your honour – perhaps an oil painting or scrapbook style memento folder. Hmmm yes, babbling. REVIEWERS:_

_**prinnie**, **GallopGirl**, **Marigot Bleu **(YAY hello new reviewer!), **moo333**, **soccerchick13**, **FriendsHolic**, **Angelfirenze** (hello! Thanks for reading, new reviewer!), **TNIIT**, **Chromo26**, **cazness**, **a tattered rose **(hehe hello another new reviewer!), **bostonfan**, **QT Roo**, and **RogueButterfly**._

_FOURTEEN REVIEWERS! I am so proud of you all, my little munchkins! And I love that my Microsoft Word spell check now knows how to spell all your pennames. It makes happy happen in my head. (What song is that from? I know it… and its bugging me… if you know, tell me! Cos it will seriously bug me until I know.) But yes, please keep reviewing, because we are so close to the end I can TASTE it!_

_How convenient, I must say, that inspiration has struck me right when I have a four day weekend. (Thankyou, God, for creating mid-years and making sure I don't have any). So, even though I am meant to 'catch up with work' over this mini break, I shall write FRANTICALLY (and also do a bit of work), because I know where this story is going, what will happen next, etc. The only thing I don't know is whether it will have a happy or a sad end… (providing, of course, that I can write sad without it becoming over dramatic and soap-opera-ish.) So let me know what you want - ewww I'm going really Big Brother. I swore I'd never go reality..._

_On that note, I downloaded a classic ep of the Bold and the Beautiful from 1997, and OMG HILARIOUS. I had a good time chuckling to myself – and is it just me, or was Brooke pregnant with Bridget in 97? Because Brooke was looking chunkers, and Bridget is like 27 now… hmmm…_

_Anyway, that's enough Bold stuff (especially considering that this is the HOUSE category)._

_ON WITH THE STORY! (and don't forget to review…)_

00

Cuddy entered her office the following morning with James Wilson hot on her heels. She determinedly pushed open her doors and walked briskly to her desk, putting down her things, bag padding gently on the surface and keys clinking to stillness. As she turned to put her coat on the rack she came face to face with Wilson and jumped a little in surprise.

"Goodness, don't jump out at me like that," she sighed, unbuttoning her red jacket and heading to the coat rack.

"How are you feeling? Your phone line was busy practically all day yesterday, and I couldn't step out to come and see you," he said, following Cuddy as she hung up her jacket and moved back to the desk.

"I'm fine," she replied rather quickly and unemotionally, seating herself behind her desk. Wilson stood on the other side of the wooden barrier and looked and her with a disbelieving face.

"You passed out in my study!" he reasoned.

"I just drank too much wine," she said emphatically, giving Wilson a little glare before reaching for her bag and keys.

"You didn't come to work yesterday! Anna called the hospital to tell me you were 'too hung-over to think straight'! What is going on Lees, this isn't like you," he replied, sitting down in the chair opposite. She gave a sigh and slumped her body, rubbing her forehead.

"What happened with House?" he continued, trying to get some answers out of her.

"It's a long story," she deflected.

"I've got a lot of time," he urged.

"You have to do clinic duty," she averted.

"Lisa, stop it! Stop deflecting everything I ask! I'm not House, you can't push me away with the promise of more clinic duty. Just tell me what happened," he pushed.

"It's none of your business!" she snapped. Silence came over the two of them, both brooding and taking deep quick breaths.

"He left the hospital after lunch," Wilson added more calmly, "I can only assume he went to see you."

"He did," Cuddy sighed.

"Did he say something to… upset you? Because I warned him -"

"- warned him against what?" she interjected suddenly.

"I told him, at dinner, not to say anything to you. But he obviously did, and -"

"You had no right to do that," Cuddy snarled quietly, shaking her head.

"Look, you were the one that told me he had ruined your date the other night, and I just didn't want him to _completely_ piss you off. You don't deserve half of what he dishes out."

"But I deserve the other half?" she confronted with a raised eyebrow.

"You know that's not what I meant," Wilson reasoned.

"I would get him to tell me what happened, but I know he wouldn't tell me the truth. Not the whole truth, anyway," he continued.

"Lees, I've known you forever, and I've never seen you like this before. He has done something seriously wrong this time, and I don't want it to destroy whatever fragment of a friendship you two have. Not to mention it would put me in an awkward place," he said honestly.

"Please, just tell me what he did, so I can try to -"

"I kissed him," she blurted out. His eyes widened and jaw dropped so far Cuddy could have sworn it was about to hit the floor.

"When I was drunk," she tried to rectify. "I didn't know what I was doing, obviously."

"Wha – so _you_ kissed _him_," he asked, still not believing the situation.

"Yes. Before I passed out," she added.

"So… you kissed him… then passed out," he clarified, eyebrow raised.

"No! Well… yes. I didn't pass out _on_ him or anything… not that I remember anyway…" she trailed off.

"But I-I," Wilson stuttered, "I thought you were mad at him?"

"I was. He wrecked my date and said some awful things, and then at dinner he was interrogating Anna, and… he apologized," she sighed.

"House? House _apologized_?" Wilson questioned disbelievingly.

"Yes. And I was just so… overwhelmed that I… well, you know," she cringed.

"Well, if that isn't incentive for him to apologize more, I don't want is," Wilson mumbled.

"Hey!"

"What about yesterday? You didn't…" Wilson trailed off, insinuating something more.

"No! God no," Cuddy deflected. "But there was a moment, where I thought… I dunno. He spent most of the time teasing me relentlessly about what had happened, and then we just had this moment where he said… but it doesn't matter because Anna came home before it could amount to anything."

"And if she hadn't've?" he posed bluntly. Cuddy took in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.

"Coulda-woulda-shoulda," she breathed. "It's irrelevant now."

"Is it?"

They sat quietly, Cuddy's eyes glazed over and Wilson's searching his confused sister for a clue. She always knew exactly what she wanted out of her job, but when it came to House and matters of the heart, she was clueless.

"Well, I have a patient," Wilson excused quietly, getting up out of the chair, "if you want to talk… you know where I am."

"Thanks. If you see House remind him he has two hours of clinic to do today," she replied, eyes still glazed over. Wilson let out an inaudible sigh before heading off to comfort another terminal patient.

00

"Ugh, this is so degrading," Emily groaned, as she briefly stood in front of the mirror, touching up her hair and striped uniform before heading out for another day of candy striper work. She'd kept her light brown waves and tied them half back, opting for the 'natural look', as she had told her sister, who she then commented tended to 'do natural too much'. Though she never envied her sisters much darker, curlier and at times fuzzy hair, she was insanely jealous of her vivid blue eyes. Though Emily too had blue eyes, hers were more a dark swirl of blue and hints of green, like her mother's. She had too inherently received her mother's shorter stature whilst Anna towered above them both with long, lean limbs.

A brief touch of lip balm and Emily was out of the staff toilets and into the halls of Princeton-Plainsboro. She had barely taken two steps before a familiar blonde haired man was on her tail.

"Hey sexy," came the voice from behind her, and she turned quickly to find Chase grinning dopily at her.

"I could call that sexual harassment," she quipped, as he wrapped an arm around her waist, not caring about the nurses peering around corners and whispering scandals to each other.

"So sue me," he grinned.

"Oh, very smooth," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at his cheesy sense of humour.

"Where were you yesterday? Busy cleaning bedpans and handing out mints to the elderly?" he asked, nonchalantly brushing Emily's hair over her shoulder.

"Didn't hear? The Dean actually took a day off work for once," she replied, playing with the lapel of Chase's lab coat.

"I did, I thought you might be coming in though," he commented with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Hey," she laughed, "I have to get every day off this crap job that I can. Seeing you, however, has become an unexpected perk."

"Nice to know I have that effect," he smirked, leaning in to brush her cheek with his lips, hand cupping her neck. Suddenly she noticed the gossiping flock of purple scrubs and stocky women, and pulled back.

"Ah, Rob," she protested, removing his hands from her body, "do you think we should be like this… here? I mean take a look at these people, word could get back to the Dean."

"So?" he said, stroking her arm, only to have her pull away.

"So, if mom finds out she's going to kill us both," Emily defended, now looking around anxiously. Chase reluctantly took a step back and sighed.

"I guess," he muttered.

"But that doesn't mean I can't kiss you when no one's around, right?" he added with a smirk. Emily's face slowly stretched into a grin.

"Well I never said anything about that," she cooed, discreetly taking Chase's hand and creeping down the hall, glancing around mischievously.

From around the corner Cameron peered at Chase and Emily canoodling, eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms in a huff as Chase nonchalantly played with her hair. That Emily Cuddy was going to be nothing but trouble, she knew it, and Chase was going to end up making a fool of himself, and possibly even losing his job over it. She _had_ to do something about it, before he sabotaged his own future.

"Chase," Cameron said boldly, stepping out from her hidey-hole as Emily and Chase crept down the corridor. They both stopped in their tracks, hands still clasped between them.

"House is looking for you," she lied.

"What does he want?" Chase groaned, looking forward to the possibility of some secret storage cupboard time with Emily.

"He needs you to MRI the patient," she continued, hands in fists behind her back.

"Can't you just do it?" he whined.

"Chase," she scolded, "you have responsibilities at this hospital too. You can't just spend all your time goofing off," she looked pointedly at Emily, "and fooling around with the Dean of Medicine's daughter."

"Hey! I resent that," Emily retorted angrily.

"Em," Chase reasoned, "she's right. I better get to work. We'll do lunch, right?"

"Mkay," she replied with disappointed eyes, squeezing his hand lightly. She gave Cameron a Cuddy glare before heading off, head held high.

Chase, too in turn gave Cameron a fed up glare, "you don't have to be so rude," he commented.

"Chase, you are paid to work. I don't think Dr Cuddy would be too happy if she found out what you were really up to," she imposed.

"Are you threatening me?" he recoiled. Cameron rolled her eyes and crossed her skinny arms.

"I'm just saying, it won't go down well if you're seen to be messing around when you should be taking care of patients," she continued.

"You're not my boss, Cameron. If I remember correctly, we're doing the same fellowship, and House didn't put you in charge of me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," he suggested, arms crossed.

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed, shifting her weight. Chase just raised his eyebrows and uncrossed his arms with a fed up sigh.

"I'm going to find House," he huffed, walking past her.

"Good," she pushed, her stance strong and body rigid, as she watched him walk away, head shaking.

00

"You… are unbelievable," Wilson said as he entered House's office, where he sat at his desk, feet up and oversized tennis ball in hand.

"So people keep telling me," he answered cockily, lightly throwing the ball up and catching it.

"How does pissing off women make them attracted to you? I don't understand it," he mused, agape, sitting himself down in the chair opposite to his older counterpart.

"I keep telling you Jimmy, nice guys finish last. Ladies love a bad boy," he teased.

"She hates you… and she kissed you," Wilson said, hands out in disbelief. House's ears perked up.

"So, I see she can't keep it a secret. No woman who's had a taste of Gregory House ever can," he gloated, reclining further in his chair.

"Oh shut up," Wilson silenced. "Stop being such an ass."

"Sorry, can't stop now, it's who I am."

"Can you just quit being so cocky for _one_ second? This isn't funny, so stop pretending she's some sort of conquest," Wilson scowled.

"Eesh, not happy that lil sis is getting some?" House teased.

"She's not 'getting some'. And she's a year older than me," he corrected.

"Well sorry 'baby bro', if I ruined your nunnery plans for her," House continued to tease. Wilson gritted his teeth and shook his hands in frustration.

"You know you can't keep her a locked up Rapunzel forever. She's taken a look at Ye Olde Gregory, and she likes what she sees. Quite frankly, I can't blame her. There's no objection on my part, with a rack like hers. There's nothing I could do to stop her from throwing herself on me like she did, she just couldn't resist. Raw sex appeal does tend to attract the females. And sure, I love rubbing that in her face, but who wouldn't? She could do with some lovin' to loosen her up, she's far too uptight," he ranted.

"Are you enjoying this, House? Are you getting some sort of perverse pleasure out of making her miserable?"

"Misery loves company," he flicked with a grin.

"You know that's really getting old. I warned you House, to stay away from her, and now she's hurt, and she's confused, and not only is it making _her_ miserable, but it's making _me_ fucking miserable too! So just quit with the Casanova act and be an adult for once! I'm sick of it House, I'm sick of you. Just… take some responsibility," he growled, pushing himself out of his seat and seething out of the room.

House sat up straight in his chair, for once silenced by his friend. He did care about Cuddy, but sometimes he just couldn't stop himself from being a jerk and an ass, and screwing things up. So what? It was who he was. He wasn't in a relationship, he had no desire to be in a relationship – he didn't need anyone. Yet somehow when he was around Cuddy, sparring or otherwise, he forgot all that. He forgot that he was a loner, and almost let himself connect with someone. But he could never go so far as to actually forge a deep connection. No, that would be crossing the line.

Back in college there was no line. Sure, he was still a pain in the ass jerk, but he had such a good time doing it. He was the talk of the campus – everyone had heard about Greg House, the guy who somehow managed to ace everything despite the fact he never worked, and everyone wanted to meet him. He could have any girl at Michigan, and he'd had quite a few, but though most of those girls faded back into a blurred memory of drunken nights, Lisa Cuddy still stayed crystal clear. She was the only one that could give him a run for his money, and the only one who didn't jump straight into bed with him after finding out who he was. No, she in fact did the opposite – and that made him want her all the more. She was elusive, a mystery, and he wanted to solve her. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Lisa Cuddy, and he wanted to know it three times over.

And for a while, he did know her. Not completely, not fully, but enough to know that he wanted to know more, and couldn't stop. But soon the spring came, and as the winter left, so did she. He went from seeing her every day and night, to only catching glimpses of her around campus, bustling from class to class and library to library. He had soon learnt that she wanted to be the best more than she had wanted him.

At the end of the semester she was gone, and the next time he saw her he was lying in a hospital bed, Stacy by his side. It took a while, but they slowly started to get back into a swing. Then she offered him a job, and it was as if time had turned back 15 years. Suddenly they were back at Michigan, and were talking and sparring like old friends. She went back to being his puzzle to solve, and he went back to being her ultimate challenge. Though he longed to put her pieces together, she still kept him at a professional distance, and the closest they ever got was a coffee or lunch between old friends.

But now, he could smell college in the air, and the possibility of having her like he did then hung in the atmosphere, hovering around his ears, nose and throat, drawing him in. He'd found two new puzzle pieces, and he was going to use them to finally solve the riddle of Lisa Cuddy.

00

_**A/N: **So there we go, another chappy, in less than a week! Go me! But yes, please take the time to chuck me a review._

_Coming up next… House plays with his puzzle, and an unexpected visitor comes to stir up trouble…_

_PS. Don't worry about "makes happy happen in my head", I just remembered it's from "On This Side" by Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set. GREAT song! Woooo!_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18**_

_**A/N: **Well, okay, so I promised to bring this chapter quickly. It seems my promises are at times, empty. BUT, I did write this about a week ago… but I had to proof it and change some things, and I got busy, and I wasn't in the mood, and excuses, excuses, and I didn't proof and post. So I apologize. Nonetheless, I have now proofed and I have now posted, so hopefully I had redeemed myself._

_Since my promises of updates tend to… well… not happen, this may be pointless to say, but hopefully I WILL be updating more. It was FINALLY holidays (goodness me, that had to be the longest term in the history of all time), so I may be writing more. And sure, its meant to be a 'working' holidays, and I'm mean to be researching MADLY (or so my teacher says) for my drama solo performance, but we all know that I'm not gonna be doing homework for a large portion of this holidays. With any luck, I will find some creative bones for this fic, and more of it will get written. But, let's not make any promises. It's coming along slowly…_

_Ummm, YES reviewers thanking time! How could I almost forget! It seems that my reviewers just get cooler and cooler (oh yep, putting in butt-kiss overtime), and it makes me UBER happy to know that you're all enjoying it (AND that I know have an average of 10 reviews per chap. That's pretty DAMN sweet). So, to **cazness** (my ever loyal bestie), **GallopGirl**, **Jojo**, **bostonfan**, **moo333**, **ladyhound**, **Kris the fanficaholic** (look… MORE!), **manda** (I love a loyal fan), **Chromo26**, **Princess-Leasel**, **RogueButterfly**, **soccerchick13**, **TNIIT**, **QT Roo**, **PurpleYin** and **Stacey**, you guys are bumping up my average and I LOVE IT! Keep them coming because I am just REVELLING in the reviewness right now. It makes me feel pretty damn good about myself… lol!_

_Oh YES, and I have to mention, before we go on, Emily and Anna's father. I have been getting SHITELOADS of comments about 'who is their daddy?'. So (when I can remember) I've been replying to people's reviews to let them know. Now there seems to be too many, so I shall mention it here! Back in chapter (stops for a moment to check) five we established that then twins' father is a man named Harvey O'Brien. Now, we only brushed on it, but basically we learned that he and Cuddy dated briefly in college, and they broke up before Cuddy found out she was pregnant and transferred to Stanford. The girls know of but don't know him, and he doesn't know anything about him, and that is all that WE know so far. (lol!) However, we shall be touching more on him in chapters to come, so don't get grizzly just yet. And yes, he has a stupid name, I'm sorry. He sounds like the name of a company… but oh well._

_Anyway, I think it's 'on with the story' time. So… on with the story…_

00

"Fifteen-love," Emily called absent-mindedly, not looking up from her drawing pad.

"What!" Cuddy yelled in protest from her end of the tennis court, temper flaring. "It was in!"

"It was out," Anna retorted from the other end of the court, wiping her brow with her wristband.

"It was in!" Cuddy spat back.

"It was out, mom," Emily corrected, still not looking up.

"It was _not_!" she continued protesting, "you weren't even looking!"

"It was out, don't argue with the umpire," Anna quipped, smirking at her mother who angrily straightened up her white tennis skirt.

"It was in," she mumbled, as she prepared for Anna to serve.

Two weeks had passed, and Cuddy had a rare Saturday off, choosing to spend it playing tennis with her daughters. Anna, as always, was up for a game, but Emily had complained of having other plans. She had barely spent a minute of the last fortnight at home, claiming she was 'enjoying her summer', though unbeknownst to Cuddy, she was spending all this time with Chase. She had been acting out against her mother ever since their dinner at Wilson's. Cuddy was having a hard time figuring out what to do, as it was usually Anna that was the one with the grudge. Instead, Anna had been almost pleasant at times, occasionally partaking in friendly banter, as opposed to sulking and flinging bitchy comments whenever possible as she usually did.

"Emily, watch!" Cuddy commanded, returning Anna's serve and noticing Emily's complete inattention to the game out of the corner of her eye.

"I am watching," Emily grizzled, looking up just long enough to call, "thirty-love."

Just as Anna prepared to serve again, they heard the squeak and clank of the metal gate opening on the court. A cloud of orange dust lifted from the clay around a thin wooden cane, as House stepped out onto the court.

"House!" Cuddy exclaimed in surprise, spinning around to face him, eyes wide.

"Cuddles," he acknowledged with a nod, heading towards Emily who sat in a plastic chair beside the net. Cuddy just stared at him in surprise, mouth agape. He took a seat in the vacant chair next to Emily, and hung his cane on the side of the net.

"House," Cuddy protested, "what are you doing here!"

"I came to enjoy a game of tennis. Please, don't let me stop you," he said, arms laying crossed casually on his stomach, as he sat comfortably, awaiting the game to continue.

"Who-who told you I was here?" Cuddy stammered.

"I'm _serving_," Anna called warningly from her end of the court.

House peered over Emily's shoulder to see what she was drawing, and Cuddy stood stubbornly, hands on her hips, waiting for House to come up with an explanation for his presence.

"I'm serving in three seconds, three… two…" Anna warned, and Cuddy pouted angrily before turning her attention back to the game. Anna served strongly and Cuddy whacked it back strongly, this time the ball falling easily in. Anna hit it back effortlessly, bouncing close to the net, and Cuddy had to run in to return it, hitting it to the side on such an angle that Anna couldn't reach it.

"Ha!" Cuddy cried triumphantly, raising her racquet in the air with a grin. Anna rolled her eyes, and went to pick up the ball.

"Thirty-fifteen," Emily called, so used to these games that she didn't even need to look up.

"What's the overall score?" House asked her, and she pointed to the top corner of her page with the end of her pencil, indicating the tiny writing, separate from what she was drawing. House grinned as he noticed Cuddy was leading the set by one.

"I thought you were an actor," House commented bluntly, looking at the dress design Emily was drawing.

"I am," she replied nonchalantly, sketching the hemline.

"Oh, I get it," he smirked knowingly, "you're going for the whole 'celebrity' thing and whatever falls under that umbrella."

Emily squared her jaw, "No."

"Then what's with the sketches, Donatella?" he quipped.

"It's my dress for my birthday party," she replied, still not looking at him, merely focusing on what she was doing.

"And what, you can't just go down to the mall?" House mocked with wide faux-innocent eyes.

"No," she replied bluntly, trying to find an end to the conversation. She was already being forced to umpire a fiercely competitive tennis match, and the prospect of having to chat with someone at the same time, as well as working on her design, was not particularly appealing.

"Fourty-fifteen," Emily called absentmindedly, hearing Cuddy's grunt of frustration and Anna's victorious chuckle.

"Oh come ON!" Cuddy shouted after hearing Emily's call. Finally, Emily looked up.

"What?" she defended.

"That was _so_ clearly out! Did you not see that!" she squealed, her voice reaching new decibels.

"No _way_ mom, that was in, fair and square!" Anna yelled.

"I cannot believe this! There was a _reason_ I didn't go for the ball, because it was so clearly OUT!" she protested, face turning red with rage and hands clenching into fists.

"Oh yeah right, out like Tom Cruise is out of the closet!" Anna spat.

"You couldn't see if the ball was in or out, you are all the way over _there_!" Cuddy retorted, gesturing wildly with her racquet. House sat back, eyes wide and a look of amusement on his face, and Emily went back to her sketching.

"Eesh," House commented, "and I thought Cuddy was vicious _off _the court. Those two _really_ don't get along."

"Oh, that's nothing. This is them on a good day," Emily replied.

"It's fourty-fifteen, mom, get used to it," she called, looking up briefly to see Cuddy huff and prepare herself for the serve.

"They're both so competitive," Emily continued to House, "the games are always like this. They yell abuse at each other, then five minutes after the game is over it's like it never happened," she dismissed. House watched as Cuddy and her daughter rallied with vigor, both equally as determined to win as the other. He grinned, remembering the last time he saw her in that cute little tennis outfit, and for a moment he was lost in his own little Lisa Cuddy world, filled with breasts and ass, and a much more suggestive Cuddy than he got in real life.

"Ha! Ha! There's no way you could say that was out!" Cuddy cried victoriously, jumping and pumping her fist, lost in her success for a moment. Suddenly House was startled as Emily yelled "Fourty-thirty!" practically straight into his ear.

"Woah, you scream like your mom," he said suggestively, and Emily whacked him solidly on the arm, and he winced in pain, muttering, "hit like her too."

He looked back over her shoulder and took in the intricate details of the dress she was designing, surprised at the skill with which it had been drawn.

"You know," he commented absently, "you're pretty good at that."

"Thanks," she replied, not really listening.

"Why are you wasting your time trying to be Mischa Barton?" he said rudely, taking a packet of skittles out of his pocket and opening it, popping three into his mouth.

"I would have said Meryl Streep," she replied bitterly, looking up.

House scoffed, "setting the bar a little high, perhaps?"

"I can do it," Emily said stubbornly.

"I'm sure you could," he defended, not wanting to endure the wrath of a Cuddy. "You should do this, though."

"What, design?" she blurted.

"Yeah," House replied, pouring four or so skittles into his hand and tossing them into his mouth almost like he did his vicodin.

"It's probably more stable than acting, so it'll keep mamma Cuds happy, and you'll hopefully skip the whole eating disorder thing our young actors seem to be doing entirely," he stated, holding out his packet of skittles to Emily in a offering gesture. She pointedly took two at his eating disorder comment.

"Why should I take any advice from you?" Emily said skeptically.

"Because," he explained as though it were obvious, reclining slightly in his chair, "I'm Jesus."

Then, with a laugh, she smiled that Lisa Cuddy smile, and despite himself, House found a soft spot growing for this girl.

"We're Jewish," she laughed.

"God, Buddha, Allah, pick your religion, I'm your God," he replied with a smirk, popping more skittles into his mouth before handing the packet to Emily.

"Jewish," House scoffed, "when was the last time you went to synagogue?"

"I never said we were really into it," she grinned, picking out the red skittles.

"Hey, what are you doing?" House protested.

"Taking the red ones," she chuckled, making sure she took every one. House snatched the packet back.

"I'm not gonna share if you're gonna eat all the good ones. The only reason people share candy is so they don't have to eat the ones they don't like," he explained, putting the packet safely into the haven of his pocket. "So only eat the yellow, or get out of here."

"If I recall correctly, it was _you_ that sat down next to _me_," she replied, eyebrow raised. Suddenly, House remembered the game.

"Shouldn't you be scoring?" he asked, noticing that Cuddy and Anna were still playing.

"Oh, they tend to give up on me and start scoring for themselves halfway through the second set. They only call on me when there's a serious dispute, after a while," she explained, happily turning back to her sketch. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, enjoying those rare moments where no one had to say anything.

"So you really reckon it's good?" Emily asked casually, sucking on the red skittle she was savoring, tilting the drawing pad in House's direction.

"Stop tainting it with insecurity, it's sickening," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's good, now quit fishing for validation."

"So," he continued, trying to ask what he went there to ask, "you always do stuff like this?"

"Sit here whilst mom and Anna yell at each other? Yeah, all the time, it's my favourite hobby," she said sarcastically.

House rolled his eyes, "I mean do stuff with Cuddy."

"Yeah, I guess. Not when there's school and work and stuff, but on the rare day off we do," she explained without questioning.

"She a good mom?" he asked, confident in his prying.

"Why are you so interested?" she asked, now skeptical.

"What can I say, I'm a curious man," he replied nonchalantly. She nodded a little in wary understanding, attention focused on her sketch.

"Well?" he prompted, after she'd been quiet for a minute.

"She's a mom. She's alright," Emily shrugged. "I mean, she was never around when we were growing up, but she tries. Though not hard enough, at times, it would seem."

"Awww," House moped, with obvious fake sympathy, "did mommy ignore you?"

"Hey, shut up. I don't have to tell you anything, so stop being such a fuck-wit, or I won't," she threatened, and House recoiled at her sudden turn in personality and hostility. He pulled his packet of skittles out of his pocket, and handed them to her, as a type of peace offering. She took them with a sigh, and emptied the last few out into her hand before handing the empty packet back to House. She tossed them into her mouth, and sucked on them slowly for a moment, as if contemplating something.

"How much do wanna know?" she asked suddenly playfully, holding her hand out and rubbing her thumb and fingers together. House rummaged into his pocket for a moment before pulling out a note.

"My friend Ulysses Grant wants the whole story," he replied, holding up the bill.

"Smooth," she chuckled, "but I'm only talking to Benjamin."

With a little sigh, House put the note back into his pocket, rummaging around and pulling out a crinkled up 100. Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Doctors carry around the big change," he said with an informative nod. He put the note in Emily's hand and she took it with a slightly contemplative face. He was about to ready himself for the story when she continued.

"_And_ his friend… Mr. Franklin," she bargained, smirking cunningly. House let out a groan and an "oh, come on…" before rolling his eyes as she clicked her fingers in impatience, and this time pulled his wallet out of his pocket, flipped it open, and pulled out another, much crisper 100 bill, handing it over.

"Hmm," she mused with a devious grin, "that seems to have loosened up my tongue."

"Well don't keep me in suspense," he challenged, putting his wallet back and hoping he didn't just give Cuddy's daughter a whopping 200 for nothing.

"Where to begin…" she wondered.

"Just talk," he insisted.

"Alright, so, as early as I remember, we lived with my Aunt Linda," she explained.

"Cuddy's sister?" House prompted.

"Yep. Mom transferred to Stanford when she found out she was pregnant, so that Linda could help out. I don't think they were ever that close growing up, but my grandparents refused to help, so mom was desperate. Linda was already married and had my cousin Liam, who was like one year-old at the time, so I guess it was a bit of an intrusion. So anyway, she had us and went to college, and Uncle Rob worked, so Aunt Linda looked after us as well as Liam when mom was at school. Mom worked when she wasn't in class, so we hardly ever saw her, and we lived with Linda until we were about seven. Needless to say, it was pretty crowded, so as soon as mom graduated we moved into our own place just down the street. Mom worked really long hours, so we went to Linda's after school and stayed there until mom finished work, which, as far as I remember, was pretty late. Never before dinner," she explained, eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered countless nights of falling asleep in front of the TV and being carried out to Cuddy's car by her Uncle Rob. She and Anna often joked that they only knew their mom on weekends, but never told each other how much they thought it was true.

"It got better when we moved to Princeton though," she continued, lightening the mood, "we were 10, and she got the job at Princeton-Plainsboro - not the Dean job, but a department head one - and Uncle Rob got a promotion in Princeton at the same time, so both our families moved. Suddenly, mom was happier. We had this huge house all to ourselves, this brand new car, and all this time to spend with mom. Sure, she still had to work quite a lot, but it didn't seem as much because she only had to work the one job. Anna, though, she and Liam were pretty much best friends, so she spent a lot of her weekends over at Aunt Linda's place. Then…" Emily mused, voice becoming hinted with distaste, "she got the job as Dean, and we never saw her. She spent every moment at the hospital, even Saturdays and the good part of Sundays. A year later, Linda and Rob moved back to Boston. Rob got another promotion back there, and Mom and Linda had this huge, huge fight. Mom never told us exactly what about, but Anna hated her for it. She blamed mom for driving them away, and didn't say a single word to her for a full three months. It was… pretty bad. Liam was Anna's best friend – and honestly, pretty much one of her only friends – and once they left she was lost. So… she battled out the last three years of high school, fighting with mom left right and centre, and studied hard enough to get into Harvard, so she could be closer to Liam and Linda, and far away from mom. I was okay with mom, I mean, she was my mom… but she was alright. Anyway, when Anna went to Harvard, I moved to California, and I talked to mom on the phone a bit, and Anna too, but I don't think Anna ever talked to her. She stayed with Linda in the holidays, except for Christmas when I managed to talk her into coming home, and now, for summer. She was going to go back to Linda's now, too… but it seems I have some persuasive powers as a sister," Emily finished, letting out a conclusive sigh. House absorbed all this information, watching the ball fly from Cuddy's court to Anna's.

"And that's that?" he asked.

"That's that," she replied with a nod.

"What about daddy dearest?" he continued, and Emily tensed up slightly – not going unnoticed by House.

"What about him?" she asked confidently, trying to mask her obvious discomfort.

"Are you nominating him for father of the year anytime soon?" he continued, ever so wary of overstepping the boundary and getting a slap in the face. He was playing his puzzle piece, but he didn't want to force it down where it didn't fit.

"No. I know who he is, but I don't have any interest in knowing him," she lied, speaking quickly and conclusively, brushing the topic off as fast as possible.

"Sure," House replied, sitting himself up and grabbing his cane from the net. Emily gave him a slight glare as he rose from the plastic seat and headed towards the court's exit. As he reached the wire door he spun around, giving the Cuddys a nod.

"Cuddles," he said, "you need to work on your returns, Anna, I would not think it wise to push this one _too_ far," he gestured towards Cuddy with his cane, "and Emily, treat Benjie and Frankie with respect, because they respect you."

"House," Cuddy stammered, bewildered by his sudden arrival and departure, "what's going on, why did you come here?"

"I love a good game," he replied with a wicked smile, whipping around and leaving before Cuddy could ask any more questions.

00

_**A/N:** So… the unexpected visitor didn't come like I promised (though I guess you could call House an 'unexpected visitor. But he wasn't the one I had in mind). Anyway, there you go. Please take the time to review, because when you do I LOVE YOU._

_Coming up next… an unexpected visitor really **does** arrive and stir up trouble, and consequently wreaks havoc on House's burgeoning puzzle..._


	19. Chapter 19

_**Chapter 19**_

_**A/N: **__SHOCK HORROR. I have FINALLY updated this fic!! It's been almost 16 months, but I am finally breathing some life back into it. It was such a big project of mine that it seems a shame to just let it die without ever coming to a proper end!_

_Anyway, I know a lot of you who were reading have probably moved onto other fandoms by now (I, for one, have moved on to Lost) but hopefully you, along with some new readers, will take the time to get back into it! A big ask, I know, but just by flicking back a few chapters you can probably jog your memory. If not, hey, think of it as a brand new fic you can read. (hehe)_

_So, a lot has changed in both House's world and mine since this fic was in the works. We all know that the universe of House is a drastically different one – all these new people, blonde Cameron… its nuts!! So this fic is set in a late season one to early season two sort of universe. As you can probably tell, I really didn't like Cameron when I was writing this… but now I don't mind her, and I kind of like her with Chase. So sorry for the occasional not-so-subtle Cameron bashing, and the blatant Chase sexiness with someone else._

_As for my world, I finished high school last year and have been taking time off this year and writing music before I head off to uni next year. So… I have a lot of time on my hands to get this finished before March. Try your best to help me persevere! I haven't fully completed an epic fic since 2004, so with your help I know I can do it this time! WOOO!_

_WELL enough of all that business. A big shout out and thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed this fic, and to those who have reviewed it during its massive hiatus. __**prinnie, ****soccerchick13TNIIT**__**T,** **obylove, **_**_moo333, __bostonfan, _**_**PurpleYin, PartayyyyLikeARockstarr** (you may get your wish soon!), __**Friendsholic, **__**Kris the fanficaholic, **__**RogueButterly, **__**cazness, **__**Stacey, **__**Georgina, **__**GallopGirl, **__**Princess-Leasel, **__**jassy2009, **__**kbmaillist, **__**WrongfulActs, **__**FoxyWombat, **__**Chromo26, **__**Buba, **__**Mrs.Scott323, **__**LJP, **__**confusedsarcasm**__, you have all inspired me to finish so THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!! You are all absolutely rad and your comments are really appreciated. I'm so glad to hear that you've enjoyed the story as much as you have. I hope you keep reading, even if you have moved on to another fandom!_

_I think this A/N has been sufficiently long and rambling. Any questions? Just ask. I wrote the first part of this chapter a year ago, so hopefully the rest is coherent with it!_

00

Cuddy pushed through her office doors late Sunday morning, wishing that she could have just stayed in bed. The prospect of doing paperwork all day was not appealing, in fact she'd rather be forced to sit through an entire season of '_The Simple Life_' and force-fed white bread all day. Or maybe visit her parents, or set herself on fire, or cut off her left arm. Cuddy did not want to be a paper pusher, but sometimes she just had to do it. As she put her purse down and lugged herself into her heavy leather chair, she glanced up for a moment and almost leapt out of her skin.

"House!" she semi-shrieked. He just grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"What are you doing here? It's Sunday," she said, trying to lessen her pulse and control her suddenly erratic breathing.

"Isn't it obvious, I'm waiting for you, Cuddles?" he replied simply, rotating his cane on his lap as he sat near her office door.

Cuddy gritted her teeth, "Would you stop calling me that…"

"What, Cuddles? But you love it," he teased.

"What do you want?" she asked, sitting up straight and crossing her arms on her desk.

"A raise."

Cuddy scoffed.

"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't go for that one. In that case, I would like a strip tease," he continued.

Cuddy almost choked on her own saliva.

"Not going for that one either?" House frowned, standing up and moseying towards her. "Geez, you're making things a little hard for me here Cudsy…"

"Either tell me what you're doing here, or leave," Cuddy stated sternly, rubbing her forehead in annoyance. House sat down in the chair opposite her, and she stared at him expectantly.

"I'm here for the company, of course," he fumbled, knowing he had no _real_ reason.

"Well if you don't mind, I have work to do, so go enjoy Wilson's company instead," she replied dismissively.

"Wilson is trying to prove to his wife that he's _man enough_ for her, and is taking her on a picnic," House said mopily.

"Then go and watch your soap," she offered, bustling paper around trying to find what she had to work on.

"But watching you is _so_ much easier, and more entertaining," House replied, sitting back in his chair and resting his cane across his lap.

Cuddy chose then to ignore him, and continued with her work. So they sat there for a moment, Cuddy trying her best to remain focused with House sitting there, twiddling his thumbs and watching her.

A moment later, House blew a raspberry. "So…" he tried to initiate.

"Sit and be quiet, or go," Cuddy replied quickly and dismissively. So House sat and was quiet. Of course that didn't last for long.

House grinned and let out a little laugh, causing Cuddy to let out an aggravated sigh and stop working.

"Stop trying to distract me," she growled.

"I'm not," he defended, then let out a chuckle, "I was just picturing you in that cute little tennis outfit from yesterday…"

"Quit it."

"You quit it."

"Quit it!"

"You quit it!"

"House! Stop being so juvenile," she hissed.

"You started it," he pouted childishly. They sat for a moment, both eyeing each other, before Cuddy went in for it.

"What were you doing yesterday, anyway? Who told you I was playing tennis?" she demanded.

"Jimmy has a big mouth."

"So, why'd you turn up? You had no business to intrude on my personal life -"

"Well _sorry_ for trying to get to know you a little…"

Cuddy scoffed, "as if you need to 'get to know' me! You were fishing around for some dirt on me, I know, I saw you talking to Emily."

"A lovely conversationalist," he replied smoothly.

"I want to know what you said to her House, what did you try to get out of her?" Cuddy ordered.

"Was there something to get out?" he played innocent.

"Ugh!" Cuddy growled, "what did you say to her?!"

"Why don't you just ask _her_," he replied, "your bestest bud."

"Because she's not talking to me!" Cuddy blurted out before she had a chance to stop herself. All of sudden the silence fell between them like a ton of bricks, and the hint of satisfaction on House's face told Cuddy what she had feared.

"Why you scheming little bastard," she hissed, raising from her chair and slowly slinking around her desk, "this is what you wanted all along, isn't it?"

As she approached him House stood up, making sure he had the power of height over her.

"This whole little ploy," she spat, eye to eye, centimeters apart, "was all about you finding out how screwed up my relationship with my daughters is! Well I'll tell you something for nothing, House; you should be studied, because this sort of behavior is not human. I can't believe that even you would sink so low as to sneak around stealing private information wherever you can! You're a sick, egomaniacal, worthless piece of sh-"

House's lips suddenly crashed onto hers. She froze for a moment, completely shocked that House had decided to kiss her, mid-insult. But then her angry mind couldn't control her body and she softened into him as his hand held the side of her face, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down closer and parting his lips with her tongue. They kissed passionately, Cuddy's thoughts fading to a hazy grey. Neither of them could say how long they'd stayed in that embrace before House pulled away suddenly, leaving Cuddy standing there dazed, lips a full red and eyes half closed. She looked up to see him and he stared back down at her, breath heavy and lips swollen.

"What was that supposed to do?" she breathed.

"Exactly what it did," he replied cryptically, still staring her down.

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

"Get back to work," House whispered sternly with a smirk, before walking out of the office, leaving Cuddy standing there breathless and utterly confused.

00

Emily swung through the front door with an angry sigh.

"What's up with you?" Anna asked, sitting at the dining table with her laptop open in front of her.

"Nothing," the lighter-haired sister huffed, flinging her bag onto the table and sitting down.

"Mmhmm, sure."

"Is mom here?"

"Nope," Anna replied, popping her lips, eyes still on her laptop.

"Good."

"You should cut her some slack."

Emily almost choked on her own saliva. "Excuse me?"

"Why are you bitched out at her all of a sudden? It's like you've been _me_ for the past couple of weeks," Anna commented.

Emily only huffed in reply.

"Is it because of that doctor you're seeing?"

"No, its not Rob. God, not everything is about that, Anna," Emily snapped.

"Woah, where did _that_ come from?" Anna turned to her sister, eyes widened.

"And where do you get off being so self-righteous and miss know-it-all, anyway? _You're_ the one with all the issues." Emily pushed back her chair violently.

"Hey!" Anna gritted her teeth. "Don't you take your anger at her out on me. That's not fair."

"You do it to me."

"Woah, just _slow down_. Did something happen with Bettina?"

"She blew me off," Emily muttered.

"Ah, I see."

"He owned the entire series of '_Saved By The Bell_', I can't compete with that."

"No one can," Anna tried to sympathize. Emily raised an eyebrow.

"And on the topic of 'all of a sudden', when did you turn over this new leaf?"

"I asked you first."

Emily rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I'm just…" she started quietly, "I'm just sick of all this shit, you know? I mean why the hell did she never tell anyone about us? All those years we didn't visit her at work I never knew it was because we weren't meant to exist."

Anna looked down at her lap.

"Sometimes I wonder if all families are this screwed up," Emily said with a small laugh, wiping at her eyes. Anna mirrored her chuckle.

"That dinner at Uncle Jimmy's…" Emily trailed off.

"I know. That was hella weird. Though the image of her passed out on the floor is one I will cherish," Anna sniggered.

"But she's not supposed to be like that, Anna, she's our _mother_," Emily stated emphatically.

"When are you going to realize she's not _just_ our mother? Her life didn't begin when we were born. She was her own person before we came along, and she still is," Anna replied. Her eyes stung as she remembered that night she'd walked in on her mother crying. Something changed in her that night, and she didn't know what it was, but all of a sudden she felt herself cutting Cuddy some slack. Even after everything that had happened with Linda…

Emily sat there quietly, hands wiping at tears that were escaping unwillingly.

"Do you ever think about our dad?" she asked in a whisper, as though she wasn't meant to speak of it.

Anna lifted her head and looked into her sisters eyes. In that moment there was something unspoken between them, some bond or camaraderie that they knew they had always had but never explored.

"Yeah," she nodded softly. Emily reached out and took her hand, and for once she just let her hold it.

00

Cuddy stumbled in her front door late that afternoon, bewildered and frazzled from a surprisingly hectic and... surprising day.

"I'm home," she called into the hallway, receiving an acknowledging noise from the living room and nothing from Emily's end of the house. She moved into the dining room and put her purse down on the table, letting out a small relieved sigh to be home.

"What's for dinner?" Anna asked, moseying out of the living room. Cuddy turned around and gave her an 'are-you-serious' face.

"I _just_ got home. You're in charge of it," she delegated.

"Gee, thanks," Anna mumbled in reply, and Cuddy rolled her eyes. "How's pizza?"

"Not pizza."

"Chinese?"

"Not Chinese."

"… Tacos?"

"Not Tacos."

"Why don't I just make us a pot roast," Anna retorted sarcastically.

"Sounds lovely," Cuddy faux-smiled. "Where's Emily?"

"In her room. Bettina blew her off for some guy today," Anna reported.

"That's not like Bettina…"

"He owned the entire series of '_Saved by the Bell_'."

"Ah, I see. Any messages?" Cuddy asked.

"Want to change long distance carriers?"

"I'll take that as a no," she replied, resting her arms on the table with a sigh. They had an awkward silence for a moment, both standing there looking at each other rather blankly, neither really knowing what to say to the other.

"Well, if we're all up-to-date then, I'm gonna go watch some more _Arrested Development_," Anna said, swiveling on her heel and walking back the way she came.

"I'll join you," Cuddy sighed, glad to immerse herself in someone else's problems for 30 minutes. Well, 21 without commercials.

They had got eight minutes through the first episode - Cuddy not really paying attention and rather thinking about her encounter with House – when the doorbell rang. Cuddy snapped out of her thoughts and looked over to Anna to answer the door, but she was so immersed in the program that she hadn't even heard it ring. Cuddy let out a miniscule groan and hauled herself out of the chair and towards the front door, stocking clad feet padding on the floorboards. Turning the cold handle she opened the door and her throat closed up.

It was Linda.

00

_**A/N:**__da-da-dAAAAH! Talk about shoving a lot into one chapter. And now Linda is here GASP!. Please take the time to review, it would be great to know your thoughts!_

_Coming up next… all cards are on the table. The past with Linda is finally revealed!_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20**_

_**A/N: **__WOW! Thanks so much for all those awesome reviews, everyone! It seems the huddy fanbase has just EXPLODED since I was last actively involved. So many videos on youtube, fansites, its nuts and I LOVE IT._

_It's great to know you're all enjoying this fic so much, and that I have so many new readers! So thank you __**cazness, lslazybones, bostonfan, Nicole, confusedsarcasm, Princess-Leasel **__(he would be a man named Harvey O'Brien. We'll have more on that front later!), __**jassy2009, Metaphoric.Love, BodiesNBones, anorphirith, Calli1, vipercharmed **__and __**Shikabane-Mai**__, your support is much much much appreciated!! Each review made me smile and brightened up my day so I'm very grateful for your kind words._

_I also noticed a lot of people putting this on story alert (not all of whom reviewed), so if you are indeed still reading, I would love it if you could take the time to leave a teensy comment! Doesn't have to be much, just a 'hello, I'm reading' will suffice, or even a guttural sound, I'm not fussed. :)_

_I'm on some kind of a major roll here (notice how quickly I updated), and have already written the next chapter, so here's hoping I can keep going at this pace!!_

_And now, where we left off…_

00

Cuddy could only gape as her older sister – whom she had not seen for several years – stood on her doorstep before her. No one would know they were sisters just by looking at them. Linda was a good few inches taller with only slightly waved oak coloured hair that hung just above her shoulders, and deep brown eyes. She had small facial features, and lips that almost always seemed to be pursed.

"Hi Lisa," she said in a deep, smooth voice.

"L-Linda…" Cuddy stammered.

"May I come in?" she asked casually, hand resting on the pearls around her neck.

"Uh, yeah, of course."

_Lisa stood on her sister's doorstep, her hair dripping and clinging to her face, her loose Michigan sweatshirt heavy with moisture__ and the rain pelting down behind her. She shivered slightly as a cold wind passed, before reaching up, taking a deep breath and ringing the doorbell. She stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her, nervously wringing them. After a few moments the door opened, and Linda met Lisa face to face. She immediately began to angrily shut the door._

"_Linda," the soaked girl begged. The door slowly opened. Linda took in her sister's appearance, dripping wet hair, soaked clothes and pooling mascara under her eyes. Those blue eyes pleaded with her, and Linda shifted uncomfortably._

"_Mo__m and Dad told me if I was going to come home with a baby, I shouldn't bother coming home at all," Lisa croaked, her voice deep and heavy with emotion. Linda's heart ached and she let out a deep sigh, touching her pearls as she thought._

"_Come in and have a hot shower, then we'll talk."_

Linda walked in purposefully, avoiding Cuddy's gaze slightly, not sure how to look her sister in the eye after an almost five year absence. "Your house is nice."

Anna emerged from the living room, having heard her Aunt's voice. A look of disbelief on her face, she walked up to Linda, who smiled and pulled her into her arms.

Suddenly aware that her mother was watching, Anna pulled away, awkwardly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It's nice to see you dear," Linda said, still touching Anna's arm, ignoring Cuddy completely.

"Aunt Linda?" a voice from the hallway called. Emily appeared warily, not sure that what she was seeing was real.

"Emily," Linda smiled, those tight lips stretching and her arms opening, "aren't you beautiful." She wrapped her niece in an embrace, and Emily only just registered the hug in time to react before she had been released.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, still shocked.

For the first time since she'd walked in, Linda turned to look at Cuddy. It was like someone had just gripped them both in a lock-hold, pushing their gazes against each other until the air was heavy and thick with tension.

She flicked her eyes away with a dismissive smile. "I thought it was time we had a catch up! It's been too long." She ran a finger over her pearls.

"Mom?" Emily turned to Cuddy, who was still staring at Linda in disbelief.

She suddenly snapped out of it. "Girls, why don't you go to your rooms, give Linda and me a chance to catch up."

"No," Anna refused.

"Anna, please -"

"No -"

"Just go!" Cuddy suddenly yelled, her face bursting. Emily and Anna both visibly flinched at the volume. In the one second that followed, no one moved, the room expanded and their feet seemed to all stand on floorboards a million miles from each other. It was like the air had frozen and nobody could move or breath.

They exhaled.

Emily took Anna's arm and guided her down the hallway, leaving Linda and Cuddy alone.

Lisa took in a deep breath and placed her hand on her hip, trying to act casual. "Have you come to apologize?"

"_I'm sorry," __Lisa said, buckling seven year-old Emily's seatbelt as she nestled into it, teetering on the verge of sleep. "I'm sorry to keep doing this to you."_

"_Its ok," Linda replied, "you've got to work."_

"_I know, but I can't be dumping the twins on you all the time, not after all you've done for us already," she said, closing the car door on her sleeping daughter._

"_They're always welcome here, Lisa. Liam loves having friends to play with."_

"_I promise soon I'll be able to quit one of my jobs, and then you won't have to worry about us," Lisa insisted, opening the driver's side door._

"_Its fine, really," Linda replied, laying a hand on her pearls._

Linda touched her pearls, feigning nonchalance. "Apologize?"

"You know what for," Cuddy said, disdain dripping from her voice.

"I'm here with Ted; he had to come up on a business trip. I thought I'd come too, pay you a visit. I missed the girls," she replied straightly, no betrayal of her real feelings on her face.

"Oh, so it's all okay then, is it? You're just going to pretend it never happened?" Lisa wet her lips and crossed her arms, shaking her head to try and hold back tears that were threatening to emerge.

"Lisa, you're overreacting," Linda tsked, tilting her head. Cuddy scoffed and turned on the spot, running a hand over her face and trying to calm herself.

"Why are you really here?" she asked, hand on hip. Linda took a breath and was about to answer when a knock on the door interrupted her.

Cuddy sighed. "Who is it?" she called.

"Lip service!" said a cheery voice from behind the closed door.

"House," Cuddy muttered, shaking her head in annoyance and moving to let him in.

"Wait, House? Greg House?" Linda asked, turning to the door also. "What is he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Does he -"

"No," Lisa said firmly, looking her sister straight in the eye, before opening the door. House leant with his back against the doorframe, twirling his cane. As soon as he spotted who was standing behind his boss, however, he stood up straight, eyes widened slightly.

"I don't believe we've been introduced, I'm Greg House," he said, pushing passed Cuddy and extending a hand to Linda.

"Oh I know who you are," she replied, touching her pearls as she took a step back.

"That Lisa," he said, feigning a tsk, "she just can't stop yapping on about me!"

"And you're just as arrogant as I thought," she replied haughtily.

"I'm not the only one," he scrutinized, hooking his cane over his arm.

"Lisa," Linda hissed out of the side of her mouth, "are you involved with him again?"

"No!" Lisa protested, desperately trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation.

"Well, that remains to be seen," House commented, popping a vicodin into his mouth that he had retrieved from his pocket.

Linda pouted.

"House, what are you doing here?" Cuddy sighed.

"It's irrelevant now," he dismissed, "I'm more interested in _you_." He stared Linda down.

"Me?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you be coming back now, after a five year absence?" he stepped towards her, looking analytically into her eyes. Linda was a little taken aback that he knew of her separation from her sister.

"Is someone dieing? Terminally ill? Come to right a few wrongs before they bite the dust?" he continued.

"No."

"Then you must want something," he stated frankly, standing back and looking between the Cuddy women.

"I'm just visiting."

"Pssh," House twirled his cane in a circle dramatically.

Linda squared her jaw. "Who are you to interrogate me? Who are you to ask me _any_ sort of question? You're the one who -"

"Linda!" Cuddy stopped her, throwing her hands up. "Both of you, just… stop it! I don't know why either of you are here, but I want some kind of explanation _right now_."

"_Anna's really upset," Cuddy said, as her sister packed boxes, "she's blaming me, she thinks its something I've done."_

"_She knows it's for Ted's work. She knew we weren't all going to live in the same place forever," Linda replied dismissively, carefully packing her fine china._

"_Liam's her only friend."_

"_That's not my fault, Lisa. And it's certainly not my genes," she said conceitedly. Cuddy's jaw dropped and she was momentarily lost for words._

"_Aren't you ever going to forgive me for that?" she begged quietly, her voice strained._

"_There's nothing to forgive. It's just who you are. You can't help that you're that way."_

"_That I'm what way? That I 'have to take everything from you'?" she cried. "You know that's not true, you know I didn't mean to get pregnant! You're just letting dad feed you his ridiculous opinions."_

"_Oh please, Lisa. You could never have it all and do it on your own, you couldn't back then and it seems you still can't now. I had to take you into my home, I practically raised your children for you while you were off pursuing some grand career that you just _had_ to have," Linda contested._

_Cuddy suddenly couldn't breathe. It was like a load of bricks had been dropped onto her chest, squashing the air out of her._

"_So that's how you've really felt all these years? That I've just been a burden to you, an unwelcome burden? Don't hold back now, tell me how you _really_ feel," she spat._

_Linda sighed. __"You're my sister; I couldn't leave you out on the street with those sweet girls, could I? I had to help them, it wasn't their fault," she continued casually, still packing whilst Lisa stood there practically coming apart._

"_We're moving to Boston, Lisa. You've finally got your wish, you run that hospital. It's the life you've always wanted. You don't need me anymore. I'm sorry Anna's upset," she continued coldly, taping up her last box._

00

"What do you think she's doing here?" Emily asked as she and Anna sat on her bed.

"I dunno," she replied, holding her finger up to quiet her sister. She froze as she strained to hear the voices still echoing slightly in the front entrance way.

"Anna, you shouldn't be eavesdropping," Emily warned. Anna rolled her eyes.

"You say that like you don't have your ear pressed against the door anytime anyone has a private conversation.

"I know you're as anxious to hear what they're talking about as I am, so be quiet and go sneak out into the hall."

"Anna…"

"Oh fine, I will," she huffed, getting up and seating herself right at the doorframe. She leant forward as far as she could without being seen.

"God, I need a cigarette," she muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"I heard that," Emily disapproved from the bed.

Focusing, Anna closed her eyes and listened.

"Then you must want something," House's voice echoed down the hall.

"House is here!" she turned and whispered to Emily.

"Dr House? When did he get here? I didn't hear the doorbell," she replied.

"Well maybe if you weren't so busy telling me off we would have heard it," Anna chastised.

"And maybe if you weren't talking right now you could hear what else is going on!"

Anna rolled her eyes and turned back to the hallway.

"I don't know why either of you are here," Cuddy's voice resonated, "but I want some kind of explanation _right now_."

Anna furrowed her brow as she tried her best to listen.

Silence.

"Fine. If you're not going to answer, I want you out. Both of you. Go," Cuddy said sternly.

"Lisa, I hardly think it's appropriate for you to kick me out," Linda said smoothly, her voice still with no hint of real emotion.

"Oh, hardly appropriate, is it? And was it appropriate when you told me how much you hated my constant presence in your life all those years? How you hated the fact that I had more children than you? Was it appropriate when you moved away so I wouldn't have to be a burden on you anymore, Linda?" Cuddy exclaimed, her voice betraying her by shaking slightly.

"I never said you were a burden," Linda tried to laugh off.

"Don't lie to me! How dare you come into my house, pretending you never said all those things to me! Do you have any idea what that did to me? To know that all those years you resented me? My worst fears where realized! You know I moved out of your house as soon as I could, you knew how guilty I felt putting that on you -"

"Oh of course, because you have to do everything all on your own -"

"I had to get out of there because I knew how much my pregnancy hurt you. And every day that I lived in that house, I was rubbing it in your face. You know I'm so sorry for that," her voice was now so hoarse and tired that she had to stop for a moment to compose herself.

House just stood back in disbelief. All of the pieces of the puzzle were out on the table – and coming together right in front of him. He let out a breathy sound, and suddenly Cuddy flicked her head to him, finally remembering he was there.

"Oh God," she muttered, covering her face. She couldn't believe how much she'd said in front of House, the man she was trying to keep it all from.

"I told you what needed to be said," Linda stated coldly. "Those girls were suffering because of you."

"Is that true?" Anna asked from the hallway, now standing and walking towards them. All three adults turned at the sound of her voice.

"Aunt Linda, you told me mom encouraged you to leave. You said that she told you we didn't need you around anymore." Her eyes were wide with shock and her posture stiff and guarded.

"Anna, honey," Linda reached out to touch her shoulder, but she recoiled, "I told you what you needed to hear. I told you the truth."

"No you didn't!" Anna cried, pushing away her Aunt's advances, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Y-you," she stammered, "you made me hate her! You made me _hate_ her for pushing you away!"

Suddenly the weight of what she had done and how she had been over the last few years came crashing down onto her, and her legs became too weak and feeble to hold it all up.

Emily rushed from her room, having heard the shouts clearly. She picked Anna up off the floor, leading her away. Sitting her on her bed, she wrapped her arms around her sister, and for the first time in years, Anna really cried.

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_**A/N:**__ Well, its all out now! That chapter took a lot of emotional energy to write, so I hope I did it justice and you enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave a review, it is always loved and appreciated!_

_Coming up next… we find out Linda's real motives, and Chase and Emily get themselves in a predicament…_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Chapter 21**_

_**A/N:**__Thanks for all those great reviews! __**HuddyTheUltimate, Shikabane-Mai, glicine, chris-am, jassy2009, hahasxybitch, MiaFr, starkidtw, Ant1984, SavvyKitten, confusedsarcasm, Calli1, Dr.AnaWebster, Nicole, cazness, bostonfan, Princess-Leasel **__and __**scheggia**__ you support is much appreciated! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, I enjoyed writing it! It's great to know your thoughts._

_We're slowly rounding on the end, there's only about three or four chapters to go after this one so stick with me, people! Almost at the finish line now._

_A bit of a language warning this time around. __Please take the time to review at the end!_

_Let's head back to Princeton-Plainsboro._

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Cuddy sat at her desk the following day, unable to focus. There were too many things rushing through her mind for her to pay any attention to the paperwork in front of her. Her thoughts were mostly on the fact that her sister could walk into her office at any moment.

The previous evening Linda had left in a rush, obviously uneager to go into the details of what had transpired years ago. She made some excuse of getting back to Ted at the hotel, and had left Cuddy with House in an awkward silence.

He had stayed a little while to make some tea while she cried, all with a most unusual quietness.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by her ringing phone.

"Dr Cuddy," she answered.

"Dr Cuddy there is a Linda Weston here to see you," her assistant James said timidly, still afraid he would be fired after the dancing incident in her office several weeks ago.

Cuddy looked up to see her sister standing outside her office. She sighed. "Send her in."

James communicated this to Linda and she entered, with a great deal more humility than she'd had in entering Lisa's home the previous day.

Cuddy stood as Linda approached, coldly gesturing to the seat opposite for her to sit. They both lowered themselves into their chairs silently.

"I'm sorry for yesterday," Linda began, "it was quite a scene."

Taking a small breath, Cuddy remained quiet, waiting for Linda to continue.

"It seems, ironically, that the tables have turned on _my_ life," she said with a slightly bitter laugh and a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I'm not really here with Ted," she sighed, wetting her lips a little and touching her pearls, keeping herself composed. "He… he left me. A week ago. Said he was going to stay with his brother… I don't know if he's really there. We'd been fighting, and…"

She trailed off, not looking Lisa in the eye.

"The fact of the matter is, I now find myself… alone. Liam's not speaking to either of us, and for the first time in my life I have nowhere to turn and nothing to fall back on. I didn't think, I just… came here."

Cuddy sat quietly, not sure what to make of her sister's story.

"I can't even think of telling mom and dad."

"I… I don't know what to say to you," Lisa sighed. "I'm sorry about Ted, but Linda, I don't know what I can say or do that will be of any help. You're not forgiven."

"I had thought so much would be true," Linda conceded. "Would it help if I apologized?"

"Only if you meant it."

Linda remained silent.

"I guess I'll go stay with a friend for a while, until I've sorted things out," she said resolutely, standing and moving towards the door. Cuddy watched her go, a longing sort of pain in her heart that spilled to her eyes. A hope for something that could never be.

"And Lisa," Linda continued, turning around as she reached the door, "I am sorry that this is what we've become."

00

Emily grinned as she opened the front door. Chase stood with his grin mirroring hers.

"Hi," she said with a flip of her hair, "I was wondering when you would materialize."

"Your absence at work was noted."

"As was your lunch hour. Skipped out a little early, ey?" she flirted.

"Only for you," he smiled, stepping inside and immediately wrapping an arm around her waist.

She kicked the door closed and slid her hand up his shoulder. "Things have been a little crazy," she said with a pout and a small sigh.

Chase saw the sadness in her eyes behind that playful guise. "I noticed Cuddy's been shut up in her office all day."

"Mmm," Emily mused, "sounds likely. Big revelations were had."

Her eyes glazed over and she stared out into nothing for a moment, before shaking it off. "I don't want to think about it."

"Then it is my job to keep your mind off it," Chase replied, tangling a hand in her hair and kissing her cheek softly. "Is Anna home?"

"She left early this morning. Don't know where she's gone," she replied dismissively, focusing on kissing Chase's lips instead, and leading him backwards further into the house.

"How convenient," he grinned, lifting Emily swiftly, and she wrapped her legs around his waist with a laugh.

"Mmm indeed," she said in a low voice, taking his face in her hands and kissing him forcefully.

00

Anna sat in her car outside Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, staring at the building, lost in her thoughts. So many thoughts, so many things to be feeling at once that she couldn't single out one feeling or one thought. Everything was just lost in a colossal web of confusion and hurt and shock and a thousand emotions she couldn't even begin to describe.

She was desperate for a cigarette, but instead just grabbed her asthma puffer, inhaling several doses and laying her head back, eyes closed. Waiting for that feeling in her chest.

00

Chase played absently with Emily's hair as she lay naked in his arms, a quietness having come over her.

"You alright?" he asked, lifting his head slightly from the pillow.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled into his chest, "just thinking."

"A penny for those thoughts?"

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You are _so_ cheesy."

"It's my best quality," he said playfully, planting a kiss on her head.

"I was just…" she let out a sigh and snuggled closer to him, "just thinking about my crazy family. And… my dad."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've always wondered what he's like, what he does. I just… I wish I knew more about him," she said quietly. Chase pulled her in tightly.

"You can't ask your mum?"

"She doesn't like talking about it. She's very good at changing the subject."

Chase rubbed her arm softly.

"Ugh, it's just all this stuff that is happening at the moment is bringing up all this -"

She suddenly froze, completely still and silent.

"What?"

"Ssh," she quieted him. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear wh -"

"Emily!" a voice called from the hallway.

It was Cuddy. "You home?"

"Shit!" Emily hissed, immediately jumping out of bed and frantically searching for her underwear.

"Shit, is that Cuddy?!" Chase whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide.

"Yes, get dressed!" she threw his boxers at him as she pulled her own underwear on and hunted for her bra.

"Where the fuck is my bra?" she squeaked, and Chase tossed it to her from the other side of the bed.

"You've gotta hide," she continued, bra in hand as she started quickly pushing him towards the window.

"What?" he protested.

"You've gotta get out, hide! If she sees you she will _kill_ you!" she exclaimed, freaking out and pushing the window open.

"What – but – what about my clothes?" he complained as Emily continued to shove him frantically towards the now open window.

"There's not enough time, just get outside and hide!"

He had one leg out the window, and at that moment was extremely thankful that Emily's room was on the ground floor. "Em…"

"Get out!" she hissed, pushing him completely out the window.

"Emily," Cuddy knocked on her bedroom door, "you in here?"

Chase stood at the window looking dejected, and Emily hissed and waved anxiously at him to hide.

"Ah… yeah… but don't come in!" she called out. "I'm indecent!"

"Why are you indecent? It's the middle of the day," Cuddy commented from behind the door.

"I'm getting changed!" she called back, putting on her bra as fast as she could, but the clasp refused to do up properly.

"Are you going somewhere?" Cuddy asked, the door edging open a little.

"No… I… ah… I spilt pasta sauce on my top," Emily lied, finally getting her bra done up.

"Em, give me my clothes!" Chase whispered from the window.

"Ssh!" she hissed, recklessly pushing the window shut and trying to close the blinds.

"Oh great one," Cuddy said, "Did you put it in the laundry?"

"Yes!" Emily called, pushing a stray sock of Chase's under the bed.

"Did you remember to put stain remover on it?"

"I'm not stupid, mom," Emily protested.

Cuddy rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm coming in, whether you are decent or not."

As the door opened, Emily stood there sheepishly, dressed in only her underwear. Cuddy looked at her skeptically before glancing around the room and noticing the unmade bed.

She tsked. "I though we were beyond me having to tell you to make your bed."

Emily's heart was beating at a million miles an hour. Her mother knew. She could just tell.

"Oh… sorry… I forgot," she fumbled.

They stood there for a moment in an awkward silence, just looking at each other.

"So… were you actually going to get dressed? Or just stand there in your underwear for the rest of the day?" Cuddy asked.

"I'm getting dressed," Emily replied too quickly. Cuddy raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something going on here I should know about?" she asked slowly, eyeing her daughter suspiciously.

"No," Emily tried to say innocently.

Cuddy gave her a stern look and crossed her arms. "However you lived in California is fine, it's your business, but you don't live like that here, understand?"

"I'm not, I'm not," Emily defended.

Her defensiveness sealed the deal for Cuddy. She looked around the room and noticed the half-drawn blinds and slightly open window. She squared her jaw and walked purposefully over to it, flinging back the curtains and opening the window quickly.

She stuck her head out the window, looking in both directions. No one was there.

Pulling her head back inside, she narrowed her eyes at Emily. "If I find out you are… entertaining boys in your room, you will wish you'd have stayed in California."

Emily nodded nervously.

Meanwhile, around the side of the house, Chase stood against the wall shivering in just his boxers. Suddenly a set of wide hazel eyes peered over the neighbour's fence, looking him up and down. An older woman's face emerged, displaying a knowing grin. All Chase could do was cover his privates with one hand and wave sheepishly with the other.

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_**A/N: **__hehe a bit of light relief for you there at the end! Nothing like Chase caught outside in his undies. Please don't forget to review, you know I love them!_

_Coming up next… House and Cuddy have a chat and Anna's problems catch up with her…_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Chapter 22**_

_**A/N: **__So, I've been unfortunately slow in updating this time. I knew I would slow once I got back into house fanworld… there's just too many fics to read, icons to see and clips to watch! I get easily distracted._

_Anyway, many thanks to __**anon, **__**glicine, **__**Nicole, **__**MiaFr, **__**bostonfan, **__**SAVANNAH, **__**confusedsarcasm, **__**jassy2009, **__**HuddyTheUltimate**__ and __**violetbeetles29 **__for your lovely reviews!! I really appreciate your feedback, as always. You keep me happy! I always get excited when I see I have a new review, so thanks for putting that little ray of sunshine into my day :)_

_Now my aim is to finish this fic before I go away on 21__st__ December, so feel free to push me. lol! There's about 3 chapters left, and 3 weeks to post them in. Must commit._

_As for the end of this chapter, I've done some research, but I'm not a doctor, so apologies for any medical inaccuracies. I did the best I could!_

_On with the story!_

00

Cuddy wandered around the room, still looking suspiciously behind things, whilst Emily fished some clothes out of her wardrobe. She crossed her arms, deep in thought.

"Is Anna home?" Cuddy asked.

"Nope," Emily replied, slipping a light cream dress over her head then lifting her hair loose from under the fabric. "She left early this morning. I don't know where she went."

"Hmm," Cuddy pondered, casually peaking out Emily's window, still looking for traces of any males that may have been pushed out of the room in a hurry. "Did you see her before she left?"

Emily gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure she's fine, mom. A little shook up, maybe, but ultimately she'll be fine."

"And what about you?" Cuddy asked, walking over and touching her daughter's arm lightly.

Emily's mind immediately went to the overwhelming thoughts of her father. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

Despite herself, Emily nodded. "I just can't believe how mean Linda was to you. And you let Anna believe it was the other way around for all those years."

Cuddy was quiet for a moment, her hand still resting on Emily's arm.

"I better get back to work," she sighed. "You should too."

Emily gave a gesture of agreement, mind suddenly focusing on the half naked man hiding outside, and how to safely sneak him out.

00

The minute Cuddy got out of her car in the PPTH parking lot, Wilson was by her side.

"I saw you driving down the road from my office window," he explained, sympathy in his eyes.

Cuddy closed the car door before locking it behind her. "House tell you?"

"Emily called this morning. Why didn't you tell me, Lees? You normally tell me big things like this."

_Lisa knocked fervently on the front door until a skinny, boyish James Wilson opened the door in basketball shorts and a t-shirt that was at least a size too big for him._

"_You're lucky mom and dad aren't home to hear you trying to bust down the door," he said dryly._

"_I need to talk to you," Lisa urged._

"_Can it wait?" James said with a little sigh, rubbing his forehead, "I'm meant to be studying for finals. I know they're months away, but mom's convinced that if I don't start studying for them now I'll never get into a good college. Which is stupid, really, considering -"_

"_James!" she interrupted, holding a hand up to quiet him, an annoyed look on her face. She pushed past him into the house, pacing back and forth._

_He suddenly looked at her with a puzzled expression. __"Aren't you meant to be at school?"_

_She stopped and gave a sigh. __"I think I might be pregnant."_

"_Oh."_

"Well give me some time," she rebutted, "it only happened last night."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," he replied, tailing her as she walked briskly towards the hospital.

"And why did you let Anna believe it was you that was in the wrong for so long?" he persisted, and she tried to ignore him and be flippant about it.

"I didn't want her to hate her aunt."

"You'd rather she hate you?"

Cuddy didn't reply.

"Lisa, look -"

"I don't want an interrogation right now. I just wanna get to my office and get back to work. I don't want to think about it," she said coldly.

Wilson grabbed her arm, stopping her and turning her around just before they reached the entrance. "You can't keep bottling it up. We have to talk about it eventually, and when you're ready, I'm here."

She looked into his eyes and paused. Giving a small nod, she slipped out of his grip and went inside.

00

Cuddy pushed through her office doors, still hungry after a lunchless lunch break.

"Salad or sandwich?" came House's voice from the couch, and Cuddy nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I wish you would stop doing that," she groaned, hanging her jacket on her chair and placing her purse on her desk.

"I like to think of it as optimum service," he replied, both legs on the couch.

She narrowed her eyes as she approached him. "I'll take the salad."

He handed it to her and she pushed his legs off the couch, sitting down where they had been. Opening the lid she speared a lettuce leaf with her fork.

House took a bite of the sandwich.

"Busy?" he asked with his mouth full.

She turned to him suspiciously and was made suddenly aware of just how close she had sat down next to him.

Putting her salad down, she crossed her arms. "Alright, let's have it."

"Have what?" House asked innocently.

"You know what. All the little comments and questions you've been saving up about what happened yesterday. Go on."

House looked at her blankly. "I don't have anything to say."

Cuddy laughed bitterly and crossed her arms tighter. "Since when have you had nothing to say on _any_ aspect of my life?"

She looked at him, eyebrow raised, and he became unusually somber.

"I don't need to know anymore, Lisa," he said quietly. She was taken aback by his use of her first name, and she suddenly didn't know what to say.

House took a bite of his sandwich, feeling uncharacteristically guilty about the private moment he had witnessed the previous day. As much as he wanted to know the secrets of Lisa Cuddy, to witness such an emotional confrontation first hand and uninvited, he couldn't help but feel something foreign. Was it compassion? He didn't like the things she was making him feel.

"So… you're suddenly disinterested?" she said, a little affronted. "You've seen all you need to see and you've finally decided to stop? You've seen me when I'm down and actually decided _not_ to kick?"

She wet her lips and continued, her anger swelling. "What was all that pestering for then, House? Why have you been making my life hell these last few weeks? Just for fun? And now your fun's over so you don't care anymore? You're just leaving it alone, the mess you've made be damned?"

"It wasn't _my_ mess," he defended.

"Oh. Right," she scoffed.

Cuddy stood up, taking a few steps away and trying to collect her thoughts.

"I don't know what you want from me," she sighed, turning to face him and hugging herself. "You question me about my daughters, you show up at my dates, you turn up when I'm playing tennis, you _kiss me _for seemingly no reason, you come to my house uninvited… what is it you want?"

He suddenly stood up purposefully – as though he'd made some kind of decision - taking large strides towards her until they were only a foot apart. He looked her straight in the eye.

"You."

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

"Oh come on Cuddy, you know as well as I do that this thing isn't going to go away." He grabbed her strongly around the waist with his free hand, and she was caught off guard. Her eyes fell to his lips.

"I don't care how screwed up your life is – life's meant to be screwed up. And we should be screwing each other."

Cuddy couldn't help but let out a reluctant laugh. House took her grin as a confirmation.

"Besides, there's too many pairs of your panties at my house for us _not_ to have a thing," he reasoned, and Cuddy narrowed her eyes.

"It's okay," he continued, "I don't wear them. Though Wilson has been known to try them on when he comes over -"

"House," she interrupted, "just shut up and kiss me already."

"Very well, got to follow the boss's orders."

In one swift moment he pulled her to him and bent down to capture her lips with his. Her arms went around his neck and he threw his cane aside, instead deciding that that hand was better suited for Cuddy's ass.

She grinned onto his lips, a laugh murmuring from deep in her throat. Slipping one hand down his side, she pulled back from the kiss and looked him mischievously in the eye as her hand came to rest on his ass.

He raised his eyes and sighed playfully. "Thank you God."

00

Cuddy found herself walking out the front doors of Princeton-Plainsboro a mere half an hour later, with House in toe. In her eagerness to get away from Wilson's prying questions earlier, she had left some files she needed in her car.

"Would you stop following me?" she sniped at House over her shoulder.

"Wherever your ass goes, I shall follow," he replied, gaze held firmly on her behind.

"You have clinic hours to do."

"You have my sexual needs to satisfy."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. She stopped suddenly when her eyes landed on a black Prius.

"Is that Anna's car?" she asked no-one in particular. Walking a little closer – House still following like a lost puppy – she was able to read the license plate.

"It is," she said quietly, walking up to it briskly and knocking on the window when she saw Anna inside. But Anna showed no sign of hearing the knock.

"Anna," Cuddy continued, knocking again. She still didn't respond, and that's when Cuddy noticed her spaced out expression and shaking hands in her lap.

Her stomach dropping, Cuddy threw the door open, and Anna's face turned to her weakly. Her eyes were unfocused, her breathing labored and hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Anna?" she said with panic, trying to get her daughter's attention. She grabbed her wrist, checking her pulse.

"Her heart's racing," she said, turning to tell House, but he was on the other side of the car, opening the passenger door.

"My… my chest," Anna murmured, dizziness confusing her.

House picked up both of the ventolin inhalers on the passenger's chair in turn and shook them. "Both empty," he said, holding one puffer up, and Cuddy looked at him with absolute fear in her eyes. "She's overdosed."

Cuddy swallowed, trying to keep her emotions in check as adrenalin pumped through her, heartbeat deafeningly loud in her ears. She clung to her daughter, medical training long forgotten as she stared into Anna's pained face.

"Cuddy," House said, trying to get her attention, "we've got to get her inside before she goes into cardiac arrest."

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_**A/N: **__Uh-oh! Anna's ventolin abuse has caught up with her. Only reviews can save her now!_

_Coming up next… long awaited words are heard, and Emily gets some important information…_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Chapter 23**_

_**A/N: **__Sooo… I think I win the top prize for slowest updater ever. Apologies all round… I go through spurts of inspiration, and then days and days go by without anything getting written. It's a bit of a drag._

_Anyway, many thanks to __**Metaphoric.Love, scheggia, MiaFr, FoxyWombat, confused sarcasm, Velimira **__and __**BonesAddiction369**__, your reviews are very very much appreciated!! You keep me happy with your feedback, and if I could I would marry each and every one of you. Monogamy is over-rated. Keep them coming!_

_SO we're on a deadline now. After this there's two chapters and an epilogue to go, and I leave in nine days. I CAN DO IT! So please please please show your support in the form of a review, the more I get the happier I become, and the happier I am, the more fanfic gets written. Teamwork is the name of the game. WOO._

_And plus, I totally have a great idea for a new fic that is just begging me to write it, so I have to get this finished quick smart so I can start on it._

_Don't forget, more reviews equals more story, and faster._

_Now… on with the story!!_

00

Anna opened her eyes groggily, the dimmed lights of a hospital room coming into view around her. There was darkness outside the window, and in a chair by the bed her mother lay asleep.

"You're an idiot," Emily whispered harshly, and Anna turned her head to see her twin sister on her other side. Anna just closed her eyes and made a small moaning sound.

Emily came in closer, leaning in so she could whisper. "They found a whole stash of ventolin in your car. What were you doing with that much?"

Anna shook her head.

"This is quite possibly the stupidest thing you've ever done," Emily continued, arms crossed.

"I don't need a serving from you," Anna finally croaked, her voice hoarse, "I'll get a big enough one from mom."

"You scared the shit out of us," Emily whispered a little more shakily than she would have liked. "Mom was beside herself. We all were."

Anna turned her head to look at her mother, who looked exhausted in her slumber, eyes puffy and cheeks blotchy.

"You could have died."

Anna swallowed with a little difficulty, and played with her IV, avoiding her sister's gaze.

"Maybe that was your plan," Emily said bitterly, her voice heavy with hurt.

It was at that moment Cuddy stirred, and noticing Anna was awake, immediately surged forward to hold her daughter's hand.

"You're awake," she sighed with relief, stroking Anna's hair with her free hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Anna mumbled. Cuddy bit her lip and looked a little uncomfortable. She seemed to take a moment to think before answering, forming what she was going to say in her mind.

"Anna, honey, once you're discharged we're going to find someone for you to talk to, to give you the help you -"

"I wasn't trying to kill myself," Anna cut her off bluntly. Cuddy took a quick breath and a weight seemed to visibly lift from her shoulders. She squeezed Anna's hand even tighter.

"Then I don't understand, what were you doing with all that ventolin?" she asked.

Anna looked away from her mother, squirming as she tried to fight the tears that were brimming. "I don't know," she mumbled, a small sob escaping. "I don't know what I was doing, I just… I… I was upset and… stupid."

She scrunched up her face as her tears fell and sobs took over. Cuddy leaped from her chair and wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her up a little. She cradled her head in her neck and kissed the side of it over and over. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, rocking her softly, "I'm so sorry Anna. I never meant to do this to you. I'm sorry."

Anna shook her head, her arms wrapped tightly around Cuddy. "It's not your fault. _I'm_ sorry," she cried, "I'm sorry I was so horrible to you. I was an idiot… I love you, mom."

Tears fell down Cuddy's cheek in waves. Anna hadn't said she loved her since she was a little girl. "I love you too, Anna," she replied, still kissing the side of Anna's head and stroking her hair lovingly.

"And I love _you_," she continued, reaching an arm out for Emily, who took it and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her sister's back comfortingly with her other hand.

Emily gave a somber smile, and the three Cuddy women sat in silence for a moment, just holding onto each other.

00

Anna lay in her hospital bed, only half watching the TV her gaze was settled on. Cuddy had gone to do some paperwork, and Emily was probably off with Chase, so Anna was left alone. Wilson had come in for a visit earlier and their conversation had been awkward at best, Wilson insisting that she talk about everything, when all she really wanted was to forget it all and start with a clean slate.

The door slid open and a cane poked through, followed by two feet.

"And she lives to see another day," House mock-sighed, leaning on his cane heavily as he approached the foot of the bed.

"What do you want?" Anna asked bitterly, turning her eyes from the TV to glare at him.

"Umm a Porsche, a plasma TV, a new Wii, a pony, a puppy… even a _thank you _would suffice."

"For what?" she growled.

"For saving your life. You owe me, kid."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Of course. Because you _wanted_ to die, right?" he questioned, eyes ablaze with a piercing stare.

She merely crossed her arms and didn't meet his eyes.

"Someone with that much ventolin stashed in their glove compartment – and a few cartons of cigarettes, I might add – either has a death wish, or an addiction problem."

He limped closer, studying her face.

"Your self-loathing mother, always blaming herself, thinks you tried to kill yourself because she did something wrong."

His eyes narrowed in fascination. "But you didn't, did you? You weren't trying to kill yourself."

Anna finally turned her gaze to his, and blue met blue in an intense stare.

"You just let your addiction get the better of you. Constant double dosing, triple dosing… it all adds up, and that final super dose set everything off. Though you'd rather have her believe you were suicidal than you couldn't control your own medication," he drilled.

"I told her it was an accident. She knows I wasn't trying anything."

"Yeah, and I'm sure she believes you," House drawled, rolling his eyes.

"She does," Anna retorted indignantly, pushing herself upright on the bed.

"She'll tell you she does, but at every turn she'll be watching you, waiting for it to happen again. Better stay away from knives, she might launch herself at you."

"That's ridic-"

"Cuddy is over-protective, insecure and guilt-ridden. She will always think it's her fault and you will never be able to convince her that your overdose was an accident."

00

"Should we call Dr. Schwartz?" Wilson asked, sitting on the couch in Cuddy's office as she occupied the armchair.

Cuddy shook her head. "Anna won't see her. Not after we tried to force her into it last time."

"We have to do something. We can't just sit back and let her self destruct," Wilson urged.

"I dunno," Cuddy mused, "maybe things will work themselves out on their own."

"Lisa, don't be naïve. Things _never_ work out on their own."

"_I_ got her into this mess, it should be up to me to get her out of it," she replied.

"She needs to see someone that's… _not_ invested. None of this is your fault. You can't blame yourself."

"James, _I_ need to deal with this. She's not going to talk to anyone else. _I_ need to be here for her now, not some psychiatrist. God knows I've been absent enough to last a lifetime."

Cuddy nodded resolutely. "I'm gonna act like a mother for once, dammit."

00

Emily sat at the table with Chase in the diagnostics room, hands clasped on the glass.

"How is she?" he asked sincerely.

"She'll be okay. She's just an idiot."

"Are _you_ okay?" he continued, reaching out a hand to rest on hers.

Emily tried her best to give a genuine smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Em… do you need a distraction?" he winked.

She broke out into a grin and chuckled softly. "As wonderful as your distractions are… I've got some head clearing to do."

Standing up, she kissed him on the cheek. "I'm no fun when I'm not playful."

He suddenly took her face in his hands, and kissed her strongly on the lips. Pulling back, he still held her head, looking her right in the eyes. "You're fun all the time."

"You say that now…" she smirked, standing up straight and walking out of the room, flashing Chase a quick smile.

"Em, wait," he called out as she walked out into the hallway. She turned around, and took a few steps back into the room.

"I've got something for you," he added, standing up and walking the few paces to meet Emily. He took a small folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. With a puzzled look on her face, she unfolded the paper, and as she looked at it, her eyes widened.

"That's Harvey O'Brien's current phone number and address," Chase informed her. She looked up at him, her face covered with shock and surprise.

"How did you get this?" she asked.

"Well, I know a lot of people, and I have a lot of money," he replied bashfully, his hands in his pockets. A broad smile broke out on Emily's face and she threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you so much," she spoke into his shoulder, her eyes closed and arms holding onto him tightly. He simply kissed the side of her head tenderly in reply. She pulled out of his embrace and took another look at the paper.

"This address is in Hartford," she said, "that's only like a three hour drive away." Chase nodded and she grinned, placing a kiss square on his lips.

"Looks like someone's taking a road trip," she said, flashing a smile and backing out of the room. Chase went back to sit down at the table, and Emily headed to the door.

"Oh, and Rob?" she said, turning back around, and Chase lifted his head.

"Your hair looks extra hot today."

A smile broke out on Chase's lips and he laughed in reply, "Your hair looks extra hot too, Em."

00

_**A/N: **__Well, hope you liked it!! Please remember to review on your way out. I'll give you a lolly._

_Coming up next… Emily goes to find her father, and Cuddy makes a discovery…_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Chapter 24**_

_**A/N: **__AH! I am horrible horrible horrible! I said I would update before I went away but I didn't! Although I have tried to redeem myself with this extra long and FINAL chapter. That's right, I'm finished!! Well… apart from an epilogue. But this is the final chapter of the 2 years and 2 month long saga. Phew. Hehe!_

_As always, thank you very much to those who reviewed, __**TammySMS, FoxyWombat, scheggia, confusedsarcasm, yoemanprince, Mim **__and __**MiaFr**__, I always get so excited to see I have a new review, so thanks so much for your kind words! You bring happy into my little world._

_Anyway, don't fret friends, I have an idea for a new AU story brewing. Yay! So make sure you keep an eye out for it._

_On with the story!_

00

"Dr House was due in the clinic 45 minutes ago," Nurse Brenda drawled, handing Cuddy a stack of files over the clinic desk. "You need to sign these."

It was mid-afternoon on the day after Anna was discharged, and Cuddy was finding herself more swamped with work than ever. It seemed her workload had tripled because of the hours she'd spent at Anna's bedside.

"Page him again," Cuddy replied distractedly, scrawling her signature quickly on the topmost file.

"I've already paged him three times _and_ called his office. He's not answering."

Cuddy sighed and continued signing. "I'll look after it. Has Emily come by my office yet?"

"I haven't seen her."

"She's late," Cuddy tsked, signing the last in the stack. She turned from the clinic desk and walked through to her office, ignoring her assistant's feeble call of "Dr Cuddy…" as she passed him. Noticing Emily's candy-striper uniform still sitting in the corner of her office she headed for her phone. Emily was now over four hours late for her pay-back job, and Cuddy would be damned if she let her daughter slack off when she still owed her. She dialed her house, but hung up when it rang through to the answering machine. The same thing happened again when she tried Emily's cell. Getting a little worried, she thought of where her daughter might be. Dialing a third number, she was greeted with a cheery female voice after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bettina, its Lisa Cuddy. Is Emily there with you? She's late for work."

"Oh hey Dr C!" Bettina's overly bright voice bubbled down the line. "No, sorry, she's not here. I haven't even spoken to her today, actually."

"Alright, well if you hear from her can you please let me know?" Cuddy asked, starting to fidget with the phone cord a little nervously.

"Sure thing," Bettina replied. "Bye!"

Cuddy hung up the phone and sat down, biting her lip. Usually when Emily skipped out of doing work she would be with Bettina, or at least answer her cell. Worry beginning to set in, she had only just picked up the phone to dial Anna's number when said girl rushed into her office, cheeks slightly flushed.

"Have you seen Emily?" Cuddy asked, and Anna simply approached her desk and handed her a piece of paper.

"I found this on the dining room table."

_Mom,_

_I've got somewhere to go, and I don't know when I'll be back. Don't wait up._

_Emily._

"Oh God," Cuddy groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"Talk about the vaguest note ever written," Anna mumbled.

Cuddy looked up at her daughter. "Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"

Anna shook her head and after a little hesitation, added, "But I know someone who might."

00

Emily pulled over on the side of the road, gripping the steering wheel with frustration. She'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, or missed a turn off and now she had no idea where she was. Grabbing the map and looking for a familiar street name, she couldn't help wishing she had someone with her to figure all this navigational stuff out. But she knew this was a trip she had to take by herself.

00

Anna strode down the corridor of the hospital, handbag still clutched tightly under her arm. Bursting through the Diagnostic Department door to a stunned looking staff, she put her purse down on the table forcefully. They all stared at her expectantly.

"Sorry, I'm all out of Ventolin," House said from beside the whiteboard, pretending to search his pockets.

"Dr Chase," Anna said with disdain, turning to face the blonde-haired man. Realization dawned on his face.

"Oh crap. You told her!" he accused.

"Emily's gone, and you better know where she is," Anna demanded, blue eyes piercing through Chase as she ignored everyone else in the room.

Chase simply looked slightly guilty and stood up. "I guess I should go to her office then…"

"I guess you should," Anna bit, staring daggers as Chase left the room.

"Uh-oh," House quipped, and Anna suddenly remembered he was there, "am I missing something?"

"Yeah. Clinic duty."

House clutched his heart and let out a faux-sigh. "Like mother, like daughter.

"House -" Cameron interrupted, and they both looked at her, having forgotten she and Foreman were even there, they'd remained so quiet.

"Why thank you for volunteering to do my clinic duty, Dr Cameron."

"But I didn't -"

"And you," House directed to Anna, "unless you think you're going to find your red and white striped sister in my office, should follow the pretty boy back to mommy's den."

Anna narrowed her eyes at the older doctor before turning swiftly on her heel and strutting out of the room.

00

Cuddy stood behind her desk, Chase sitting feebly in the chair opposite, and Anna leaning against the wall to the side.

"I understand you've been seeing my daughter," Cuddy said authoritatively, trying to keep her cool.

"Yes I have," Chase replied, trying to remain composed, professional, and most importantly not wet himself.

"Considering the situation I don't have time to grill you about it now, but _don't_ think I won't later. Right now I need to know where she is," Cuddy asked, arms leaning heavily on the desk. Chase let out a deep sigh and run a hand over his face.

"She's in Hartford," he replied, and on receiving a blank look from Cuddy, continued, "I had a few connections, and I got her Harvey O'Brien's address. She's there visiting her dad."

"You _what_?!" Cuddy fumed.

"I'm sorry, she was just really desperate to know him and talk to him, I had to help her out."

Cuddy let out an aggravated sigh and shook her head. "You shouldn't have done that, Dr Chase."

00

Emily knocked on the door of a large white house, settled on a green block of land in a good, friendly neighbourhood. There was a child's bicycle on the front lawn, which was obviously well loved. It only took a few moments before the door was opened by a blonde woman in her late thirties, dressed in white Capri pants, a blue twin set and a motherly set of pearls.

"May I help you?" she smiled sweetly, and a blonde little girl dressed in a fairy costume, about six or seven years old appeared at her side, clutching onto her mother. Emily's eyes softened and she smiled at the girl who she assumed would be her little half sister.

"Hi, ah, does Harvey O'Brien live here?" Emily asked, nervously playing with her hands.

"Yes he does, are you here to see him?" the woman replied, still smiling friendlily.

"Yes. May I please?" Emily requested, and the woman and her daughter stepped back, inviting Emily into their home. It was nice. A family home, pictures of fun summers at the lake sitting on the mantel, a bookshelf with both children's and adults books, and toys on one side of the room. This was a happy home.

"Who's at the door, Sue?" a man called as he entered the room, a young boy behind him, baseball glove on his hand. Emily looked up at this man, and her breath caught in her throat. He was tall and lanky, windswept dark blonde hair, deep blue eyes and glasses perched on his nose.

"Oh, hello," he said, on noticing Emily.

"Are you Harvey O'Brien?" she asked, a nervous lump in her throat.

"Yes," Harvey nodded.

"I'm Emily Cuddy," she explained, "I'm your daughter."

00

House sat at his desk, casually tossing his oversized tennis ball in the air as he lazily surfed the internet. He'd sent the remaining two members of his team off to do tests, and was currently enjoying his moments of peace. He was about to open a games page, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was Anna Cuddy's purse. Now usually, he wouldn't be one to blatantly go through someone's bag, but this was a Cuddy, and those three women intrigued him to no end. He picked it up off the edge of his desk – where he'd put it on discovering it left behind on the conference table - and set it in his lap, pulling open the zip. He peered inside and pulled out a few regular handbag items – sunglasses, lip balm, house keys and a cellphone. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, asthma puffer and a tiny book entitled "The Little Book of Stress Relief". He fished around and pulled out another item, a small pack of super tampons, and smirked to himself as he recalled the last time he saw a pack of super tampons. Like mother, like daughter indeed. He finally pulled out the last item, a streamline black wallet. He opened it and fished around. Bankcard, various membership cards, Harvard ID. He looked through the notes compartment and for a minute considered nicking a few bucks, but he wouldn't put it past Cuddy to castrate him from stealing from her daughter. There were no photos, nothing really personal in this wallet. He chuckled at the bad driver's license photo and was about to close the wallet when something caught his eye. He looked closely, and sure enough, he saw exactly what he thought he saw. He snapped it shut and stood up, grabbing his cane and purposefully striding out the door.

00

Emily and Harvey sat in the living room on opposite couches, the coffee table between them. Emily's hands were clutched tightly in her lap, and Harvey leaned forward, his hands rubbing his forehead and elbows resting on his knees. Emily nervously tried to make conversation.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, I can see you're very happy with your life and your family, but I just needed to meet you. I mean, my sister and I -"

"I'm not your father, kiddo," Harvey said, sitting up straight and rubbing the back of his neck. Emily sat, confused for a moment.

"What?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"I'm not your dad. Your mom's Lisa Cuddy, right?"

"Yes," Emily replied, still confused.

"We only went out for just on two months," he explained.

"I know, but -"

"I broke up with her when I found out she was already four months pregnant."

00

"You shouldn't have done that," Cuddy whispered, rather frantically as she reached for the phone and quickly started dialing a number.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked, finally speaking up.

"I'm calling Emily," she replied, nervously biting her lip as the phone rang.

"No, no, this can't be happening," she whispered.

"Mom, what's going on?" Anna asked, her brow furrowed with worry, her voice filled with concern. Cuddy closed her eyes and continued chewing her lip nervously, dropping the phone to her chest in defeat as it rang out.

"He's not your father," she said quietly, her voice filled with remorse.

"What?" Anna replied, a little more forcefully than intended.

"Harvey O'Brien isn't your father. I just told you that when you and Emily started asking questions," Cuddy explained, dropping into her chair sorrowfully.

"You're saying… you lied to us about our own father?" Anna asked, stepping forward to the desk, her voice thick with emotion. Cuddy nodded, and Chase sat back, feeling very out of place and intrusive. Anna let out an angry sigh.

"Well… if Harvey isn't our dad, then who the hell is?!" Anna cried angrily. The door pushed open and House walked in, wallet clutched in his hand. All eyes turned to him, and then Anna looked back at Cuddy. She saw the way her mother was looking at House… and then she knew the answer to her question.

"_He_ is," Cuddy said, her voice choked and deep, her eyes filled with regretful tears and fixated on House. Her secret was out.

00

_**A/N:**__ Talk about ending abruptly. But you know that's how I like to do it:) Please take a few seconds out of your day to leave a review! You will receive a virtual cuddle. And not to boast, but I cuddle well. So if you don't review, you're really missing out._

_Next: Epilogue._


	25. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

_**A/N: **__Well, my friends, we've finally come to the end of a very long road. It's been two years and three months since this little story began! I feel strangely sad, yet accomplished, that this, my longest and largest fic effort ever has come to a close!_

_Many thanks to reviewers, __**Mrs.Scott323, MiaFr, FoxyWombat, scheggia, TopBanana, yoemanprince, Velimira, Metaphoric.Love, Hinata001, WeHaveACase, Buba, Girl4ever, xpshhhhuwishx, TammySMS, Shikabane-Mai, NickyK, JJZD, tricks-meuler, darkjewelledassassin, confusedsarcasm, alexkingston, PaulaAbdulChica2007, jassy2009, Chuck Loy, babyryzze, krazegirl, Mim **__and __**Ronweasleyismiking**__. That's the largest response I've ever had for a chapter! You are lovely!_

_I cannot thank you all enough for sticking with this fic (especially those who have made the whole two year journey with me), your support has meant a great deal! I would never have been able to finish without your encouraging reviews and tolerance for original characters :) _

_Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, you have made a fanfic geek very happy!_

_And now, for the last time:_

_On with the story…_

00

"How have you been sleeping?"

"Fine."

Silence.

"How many hours per night?"

"Enough."

Anna Cuddy sat upright in her chair, somewhat sweaty hand brushing on the leather arm.

"I'm not gonna lie down."

"I know, that's fine," Dr. Schwartz replied, her slightly protruding upper lip skimming over the bottom one as she held her pen up to write. She seemed to consider something for a moment, hazel eyes fixed on Anna. Taking a small breath she flipped through her notebook.

"Anna, remember when we first met, I asked you to describe yourself as though you were a character in a book or movie about your life?"

Anna nodded.

"And you told me," Dr. Schwartz looked down at her notes, "that you would be 'the best friend who makes the wrong choice, but is forgiven or redeemed at the end'. And do you remember what I asked you then?"

Anna didn't respond.

"I asked you why you weren't the protagonist in your own story."

"How long is this session?" Anna evaded, moving about in her chair a little.

Dr. Schwartz, seeing she wouldn't get anywhere with this line of questioning, changed the subject. "Have you spoken to Dr. House since you came back?"

"No."

"But you've been back for three days."

"I didn't feel like walking all the way to diagnostics."

"So you've been at your mother's hospital, but have specifically avoided talking to Dr. House?"

"I didn't say I _specifically avoided_ him, I just said I hadn't spoken to him," Anna defended, avoiding Dr. Schwartz's gaze.

"What is it that you fear in talking to him? Is it -"

"I don't _fear_ anything!" Anna began to fume. "He isn't interested in me, so why should I be interested in him?"

Dr. Schwartz took a moment to let Anna cool.

"Is it the impending wedding that is bringing up you concern for Dr. House's interest in you?"

"I don't know why he's doing it. He's not the type to ever get married. The idea of him actually _wanting_ to marry my mother is so absurd that I laughed when she told me."

"So doesn't the fact that he _is _marrying her, tell you how much he does, in fact, love her?"

"He may love her and marry her, but that doesn't mean he wants to be my father."

"Did you ever fantasize about your parents getting back together when you were a child?"

"Of course I did," Anna replied, rolling her eyes, "what child of a single parent doesn't? Emily's so disgustingly happy about this you'd think she was ten years old."

Anna looked down, her body still for a moment. When she finally spoke, it was in a quiet voice.

"Emily's been working and living in New York, and for the first time since I can remember, hasn't had a boyfriend in a year. She's been single for a year, and she's actually been _happy_. She's happy about the wedding. Mom's happy about the wedding. Uncle James is happy."

"Doesn't your family's happiness bring you any?"

Anna didn't answer, she just stared at her hands in her lap.

"Have you spoken to your Aunt Linda?"

"No."

Dr. Schwartz watched Anna closely as the girl sat silently in her chair, eyes still cast downward.

"If you're not the protagonist in your own life, Anna, then who is?"

"I haven't had a cigarette in eight months," Anna dodged, eyes flicking up and body readjusting.

"Good. Asthma medication under control?"

"Yes."

They sat in silence.

"Anna," Dr. Schwartz began tentatively, "I would like you to do something for me. I would like you to think about what exactly it is that stands in the way of you being happy, like your mother and sister are. What is holding you back?"

"Nothing."

"_Are _you happy, then?"

Anna looked her straight in the eyes. "No. But… I'll think about it."

00

_**A/N:**__ Thanks for reading, I hope you've had as much fun reading this fic as I have had writing it. I will miss Anna and Emily!_

_Please take the time to leave one last review. Thank you again!_


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